You know, that Black Entertainment Television, they call it BET. I heard it’s for Black folks. I don’t watch it much, but I heard about it. My grandkids, they watch it all the time. They say it’s good, got all kinds of shows.
This BET thing, I think it started back in the 80s. That’s a long time ago! A man named Robert Johnson, they say he started it. Smart man, I guess. Figured out how to get a TV channel just for Black people. I think it all started in 1980. That’s when I was still workin’ hard, no time for too much TV, you know. But they make the money, big time.
They say it’s important, this BET. Shows Black people on TV, doing all sorts of things. Music, shows, all that. Back in my day, you didn’t see that much. Not like today. Today, it’s different. This BET, they say it’s the first one, all about black people, you know, it was first for us, you know.
- They say it was the first TV just for us, Black folks.
- That Johnson fella, he made it big, they say.
- Even went on that stock market thing in 1991, whatever that is.
I heard some folks don’t like it, this BET. Say it ain’t good enough. Some big-shot Black folks, they don’t like it. But my grandkids, they love it. They watch those music videos, those shows. I don’t understand all of it, but they like it. So, it must be doing something right.
You know, back in the 90s, I started hearing more about this BET. The music, it got real popular. My grandkids, they would play it all the time. Loud, too! I’d tell them to turn it down, but they wouldn’t listen. Kids these days! That hip-hop, they all into it in the 90s and early 2000s.
They even had those sitcoms, you know, those funny shows on TV, all about Black people. I used to watch those sometimes, I think. The ones with the family, you know, make you laugh. Those sitcoms were good, show the real life and make us laugh.
I heard they even got on that New York Stock Exchange, the first one for black people. I don’t know much about that, but it sounds important. They were worth a lot of money, I hear. Millions! Can you believe it? Millions of dollars, just for a TV channel. From $9 million to $475 million. They say it was 1991 when it happened. I remember that year, it’s hard, I was too busy at the time.
Then they moved to a big, fancy place. Cost a lot of money, too. $15 million, they say. Big building, all new. Must be nice. That was in 1995. I was still workin’ hard then, but I heard about it.
They got a lot of those shows now, on Black Entertainment Television. Different kinds. Some I like, some I don’t. But it’s good, I think, to have something like that. For the Black folks, you know. Shows them doing all kinds of things. That’s good for our people, show the world what we can do.
This BET, it’s a big deal, I guess. Changed things, they say. Made it so you see more Black people on TV. That’s important, I think. For the kids, you know. To see people who look like them, doing big things. It’s important to make black people visible and profitable, you know.
There are some other channels now, too. But BET, it was the first. That Johnson fella, he was a smart one. Made a lot of money, too. But he did something good, I think. Gave us something of our own. That’s important, you know. Have our own things, our own shows, our own music. It’s a good thing.
They got all kinds of shows, they say, from back in the day to now. Roots, they call it one. And Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, that’s a funny one. And something called Abbott Elementary, I don’t know that one. They change a lot, I can’t keep them all. But it’s good to have those shows, show the different life.
I heard some people talking, saying there weren’t many Black shows for a while. Like they disappeared or something. I don’t know about all that. But now, they say there are a lot again. That’s good, I think. More shows for us, about us.
Some people, they write about these things. Books and all that. They talk about how important it is, this Black Entertainment Television. How it changed things. Made it better for Black folks on TV. That’s a good thing, I think. To have people writing about it, making sure people know.
They say these new shows, they’re better than before. More real, they say. Show the real life of Black folks. That’s good, I think. Show the truth, you know. Not just the bad stuff, but the good stuff, too. Show everything.
So, this BET, it’s a big thing. Important for Black folks. Changed the TV, they say. Made it so we see ourselves more. That’s good for the kids, to see that. To know they can do anything. This Black Entertainment Television, it’s a good thing, I think. A good thing for us. It is really a big thing for us, you know.
