I really started watching Queen Sugar because someone I know had praised Ava DuVernay to the point that I was already half in love with her.

In order not to be at a loss when people asked me why exactly I loved her, I decided to watch Episode 1 of the first season of Queen Sugar.

So on a lazy Saturday, I threw my hat into the ring for that one episode and fell in love with the Bordelons in under two seconds.

Praises have been incredibly high for the lighting on the show and right off the bat, you will see why.

When Nova Bordelon is introduced; the music, the lights and the steady inching of the camera down her body collaborate to depict her as the mysterious personality that she turns out to be.

Ralph Angel Bordelon is introduced first, as a father watching over his son, Blue, and for such a complex man (he robs a store minutes after while his son waits on a park bench and is later introduced as an ex-con) this distinction is necessary to give him the benefit of a doubt.

Charley Bordelon West is the strongest woman in the world! Or at least she tries to be and does not allow the fact that her world is turned inside out in one day, wreck her. She is smart and successful as much as she is beautiful.

Ernest Bordelon, the patriarch of the family, dies before we can even understand his story and that’s okay (beyond it breaking our little hearts) because they, his complex family, gon tell us all about Daddy.

Ernest’s sister, Aunt Vi, and her younger boyfriend, Hollywood, and Blue’s mother, Darla, all present some very necessary perspectives to Queen Sugar.

This family; this beautiful, strong, real, amazing family, had me at hello.

By the time Nova was catching Charley up in a hug from her crying hug when she missed her father’s final moments, I knew my Saturday was gone.

I binged this show about farming and Sugar like my life depended on it and have cried and celebrated with the Bordelons up until the current whooper of an episode “Long Live The Elders.”

But why is my Nigerian heart so involved in this story that I really should not be able to relate too?

• Every single person in Queen Sugar is beautiful and powerful

Like really! They are each fighting their own demons and trying to be the best versions of themselves and it’s just awesome to watch. Plus that lighting on those black bodies. ???

• There is no shame in crying or shouting or being real here

With the Bordelons all types of crying and anger are on the table. Emotions are not the enemy and although there are many instances of clamping down on them and holding everything in, when they let it rip, they let it rip.

• The sibling love is the realest thing I’ve seen on TV

Especially with Charley and Nova; the supporting and having each other’s back even in the midst of disagreements just makes me want to hug everyone around me.

• You know but you never really know how hard it is for black men

We don’t yet know what exactly sent Ralph Angel to jail but rebuilding his life seems near impossible. He is constantly at the mercy of everyone and the system even when he is at heart a good man. Then there’s the work that Nova does that constantly churns out the stories of these injustices and those heartbreaking scenes after Charley’s son, Micah, was arrested and wet himself.

• It is amazing the amount of firsts that women can still have

Queen Sugar is the name of Charley’s mill, and in the show, it is the first mill ever owned by a black woman in Louisiana. It reminds me that there are still very many firsts that women have to attain outchea in the world and I’m hella proud of women who break glass ceilings everyday.

• The music is really just cheating

I should have known when I heard Jidenna’s “Long live the Chief” in episode one that I was in for a treat but I’M TELLING YALL, WHEW!

 

This post was submitted by Guest Contributor: Obianuju Okafor. You can read more of her awesome works here

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