Changing The Narrative: JOHNSON - Embracing a Lifetime of Brotherhood

In 2001 Angie Stone’s hit single ‘Brotha’ was one of the first love songs written appreciating Black men in their totality. Her soulful voice sung words of affirmation that acted as a salve for the too-often broken spirit in American born Black men. Angie’s ode to the beauty of Black men held the space, until it was possible for them to create art to articulating their appreciation for themselves. In 2021, the Bounce network took a chance on a young writer and producer named Deji LaRay. Deji’s project ‘Johnson’, offered an authentic snapshot into the challenges, triumphs and obstacles of today’s world through the eyes of four distinctly diverse Black men. Written and produced by Black men, and starring Black men, ‘Johnson’ offers balance to a television landscape that far too often allows other races, genders and cultures to give their interpretation of the hearts and souls of brothas.

‘Brotha’ was released after the 90s R&B and Hip-Hop surge when images of Black people on television, movies and even across the radio waves were becoming much more prevalent. Television shows like ‘Living Single’ and ‘Girlfriends’ gave context to the relationships between Black women through a feminine lens. With Black men as a circumstantial piece of their storyline, comparable to location and extended family, these shows gave Black women a long overdue snapshot of their diverse beauty and unique experience. The 90’s jumpstarted a movement that would allow young Black women to see themselves as capable and conscientious leaders. Adversely, programs such as ‘NY Undercover’ and ‘NYPD Blue’ featured Black men as cops burdened with the task of apprehending their peers for the sake of saving their community, or as the hypermasculine gangbanger void of emotion or compassion.

Writer and creator Deji LaRay was a young actor fortunate enough to visit the set of New York Undercover as an extra. “It was an experience I’ll never forget. As an ode to NY Undercover, we adopted the LIVE performances with up and coming artists in each episode,” he shares. Experiences like the one with the Fox hit series inspired Deji to write. He penned the pilot for ‘Johnson’ in 2014, seven years before he’d see his creation come to life with Thomas Q. Jones, Derrex Brady and Philip AJ Smithey.

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