Netflix's 'Forever' Reframes Black Parenting—And It's Exactly What America Needs Right Now

Forbes

19-05-2025

FOREVER. (L to R) Karen Pittman as Dawn and Wood Harris as Eric in Episode 102 of Forever. Cr. ... More Elizabeth Morris/Netflix © 2024
For generations, television has struggled to capture the complexity of Black family life without stereotypes or moral lessons. In Netflix's new teen romance drama Forever, created by Mara Brock Akil and based on Judy Blume's 1975 novel, viewers are given something rare: not just a love story, but a layered portrait of Black parenting—loving, present, protective, and real.
At first glance, Forever is about teenage love. Justin Edwards (played by Michael Cooper, Jr.) and Keisha Clark (played by Lovie Simone) are high school students navigating first crushes, emotional boundaries, and the kind of romantic intensity that feels world-altering when you're 17.
But Akil's genius lies in the backdrop she builds—the homes, families, and communities that cocoon these teens in safety, expectations, and unconditional love.
In an era when media depictions of Black youth still too often revolve around trauma, poverty, and systemic failure, Forever offers a radical counter-narrative: Black families where parents are not just present, but deeply invested in their children's emotional and intellectual development.
This isn't aspirational fiction—it's reality for millions of Black households. The show simply turns the camera toward what has long existed, but rarely gets screen time.
FOREVER. (L to R) Michael Cooper Jr. as Justin Edwards, Wood Harris as Eric, and Karen Pittman as ... More Dawn in Episode 101 of Forever. Cr. Elizabeth Morris/Netflix © 2024
'We have cops out here shooting Black boys like it's open season, and I'm tripping,' Karen Pittman said in her role as Dawn Edwards, Justin's mother, during the opening scene of the series when Justin asks to attend a house party.
With Black women, many of them mothers and members of the middle class, experiencing the steepest job loss of any demographic in April of 2025, one can't help but watch Forever through the lens of the current moment.
Across the country, America is witnessing mounting efforts—both legislative and economic—to dismantle public education, decimate the middle class, and hide stories that speak to Black life with nuance and dignity. From book bans to budget cuts, from anti-DEI policies to culture war campaigns, the targets may be political, but the collateral damage is generational.
It's no coincidence then that Forever, already greenlit for a second season, debuted during a cultural flashpoint. When Akil—best known for Girlfriends, The Game, and Being Mary Jane—set out to adapt Blume's novel, she rooted the story in three places that shaped her creative rise: Compton, Ladera Heights, and the halls of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
FOREVER. (L to R) Assistant Director Anna Notarides and Showrunner/Executive Producer/Director (105) ... More Mara Brock Akil behind the scenes of Episode 105 of Forever. Cr. Elizabeth Morris/Netflix © 2024
But what gives Forever its pulse isn't just geography—it's what happens in Black households.
'Showcasing Los Angeles for Los Angeles—not just as a stand-in for Hollywood or Santa Monica—the series brought landmarks to the screen that upper, middle, and working-class Black families know,' said Jayar Jackson, political commentator and father to a Black son. 'Because income doesn't keep us from each other in Los Angeles.'
Jackson, host of The Young Turks, recently relocated from L.A. to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, citing the region's increasingly inflated housing market. He and his wife watched Forever together—and found themselves emotionally drawn to Akil's storytelling.
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 29: Jayar Jackson attends the TYT Watchdog Correspondents' Dinner 2017 on ... More April 29, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo byfor The Young Turks)
'We saw our own love story in that of [Justin's parents] Dawn and Eric,' Jackson said. 'Even though it wasn't explicitly told, it was felt in the way they related to each other—and to Justin.'
Jackson said he was particularly moved by the parenting dynamic between Dawn and Eric, and the emotional labor that came with raising a teenage Black boy. 'The roles of being tough and harsh on him, to then being easy and nurturing—to keep him from thinking we just don't know what he's going through,' he explained.
For Jackson and his wife, both of whom are raising their son in a world that often misunderstands or stereotypes Black boys, Forever struck a nerve. Jackson said they stayed up until 1 a.m. some nights to finish the series.
'From Justin's IEP in school, to the way his basketball coach treated him, to the fact that he has a best friend named Darius,' Jackson said, 'There are so many exquisitely portrayed nuances about life as a Black family that's attentive and aware of our son's experience in this world—and how it treats him.'
Simona Noce Wright, a Black mother of four and co-founder of District Motherhued—a Washington, D.C.–based nonprofit serving more than 45,000 Black millennial moms— shared similar sentiments.
For her, Forever was more than a series. 'It was a mirror,' she said.
'It was an all-too-real depiction of everyday life,' Wright continued. 'showcasing the true realities of Black parenting in a technology-driven society.'
WASHINGTON, DC — August 10: Nikki Osei- Barrett, left, and Simona Noce Wright are founders and ... More producers of District Motherhued and Mommy en Blanc. Mommy En Blanc is a celebration of Black motherhood hosted by Simona Noce Wright and Nikki Osei-Barrett, who are the founders and producers of District Motherhued (cq) and Mommy En Blanc. The event gathers African-American mothers and their children for a picnic on the DC waterfront where families can get together for community. (photo by Andre Chung for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Wright noted that this kind of Black parental representation—rooted in nuance and emotional honesty—is still far too rare on both the big and small screens.
'...This series normalizes our existence,' Wright said. 'More importantly, it allows us to see ourselves. We see ourselves in Dawn and Shelly. We see our partners in Eric. We see our sons in Justin. And we see our daughters in Keisha.'
Wright said she was particularly moved by the realistic portrayal of co-parenting conflicts—especially during emotionally charged moments between Justin's parents.
'As a Black woman and mom, we are often forced to put our foot down when it comes to raising our Black boys, especially in interactions with Black girls and women,' Wright said. 'Seeing that tension and its nuances mimicked on screen was necessary and important, especially now.'
'In Forever, Eric Edwards, portrayed by Wood Harris as a successful restaurateur raising two Black boys while building a business, embodies the quiet strength and layered Black fatherhood rarely explored on screen.
'This is Daddy giving you the game. Giving you the game of life,' Harris, acting as the Edwards patriarch, said in the film.'
For Wright, those moments hit close to home—and reminded her that representation isn't just about visibility, but about truth. 'These are normal dialogues in our home, and this series raises that awareness. It's an unfortunate thought to consider, yet still important for our existence as normal Black families to be depicted as we exist.'
A truth too often left out of national conversations—but captured through Akil's creative lens—is that Black parents, whether college-educated or not, build fortresses of care around their children. Excellence isn't confined to test scores or income brackets; it's expressed through family dinners, firm boundaries, hard conversations, and soft landings.
In Forever, parenting is far from perfect, but it is purposeful. Parents instill real-life lessons that, throughout the series, are often echoed back to them by their children in quiet 'aha moments' that reaffirm the everyday brilliance of Black parenting.
The Black family has long served as a cornerstone in Black America's pursuit of power within a system built on their labor—often without fair compensation or full acknowledgment. For author, father, and Brookings Institution senior fellow Dr. Andre Perry, a series like Forever underscore the significance of the Black family with the cultural platform it deserves.
'In Forever, we're seeing something not often projected by media: Black parents who are intentional, but naturally engaged in their children's lives,' said Perry, whose book 'Black Power Scorecard' became a bestseller. 'Research shows that wealth shapes family composition in a population. However, parenting affects how children see themselves and others in the world.'
While the teenage love story is compelling, what gives the show its soul is the context around that love: the quiet rituals of home. There are heartfelt conversations between mothers and sons, tensions between fathers and daughters, and moments where wisdom is passed down, often wrapped in warmth and accountability.
FOREVER. (L to R) Wood Harris as Eric and Michael Cooper Jr. as Justin Edwards in Episode 105 of ... More Forever. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2025
One poignant line from Mr. Edwards to Justin —'Men have to go through fire to find out who they are on the other side of the heat'—offers a blueprint for positive Black masculinity, delivered not through sermon, but by presence.
These moments show how grief, joy, faith, and fear can coexist—especially within the kind of strong family structures that Dr. Perry believes are essential to addressing deep-rooted inequities.
'We have not seen what relationships can look like in Black America largely because of wealth divides in this country,' Perry said. 'However, parenting can help mitigate some of the impacts of a broken criminal justice system, underfunded schools, inadequate housing, and other social ills. Parenting can be a disruptor.'
Critically, Forever doesn't ignore the world outside the home. It meets it head-on. The show acknowledges the systemic pressures bearing down on Black families—but refuses to let that define them.
Instead, it insists on full human'These white folks at these private schools tell us it takes a village—until it comes to our children.,' Pittman, acting as Mrs. Edwards, said in Forever Episode 5 in reference to Keisha's transfer to another school. 'These are the years to mess up, while you still have a village around you to get you through. The village at Brookwood failed Keisha, but this family will not.'
By acknowledging Black parents' strength and the systemic barriers they've long faced in Forever, Akil achieves one of art's highest callings: reframing life itself. The series shows what's possible when society stops asking Black parents to justify their existence and starts recognizing the brilliance, strategy, and endurance that has always been there.
Dr. Andre Perry is a senior fellow and director of the Center for Community Uplift at the Brookings ... More Institution.
While Black families—like Black people—are far from monolithic, Forever carefully paints a portrait of a family that lives in the middle, representing both the aspirations and cultural values that resonate across the Black community—no matter their ZIP code, immigration status or the number of parents residing in the household.
This layered storytelling reflects a broad, shared identity that's rooted in love, accountability, and survival. For anyone who has ever dreamed big and dared to say it out loud, Forever offers something rare: the chance to see your own mother, father, auntie, or mentor reflected in its characters.
It offers visibility, affirmation—and perhaps even healing.
In today's America, where so much energy is spent dividing us, Forever reminds us what actually holds us together: love, care, and the sacred duty of raising the next generation. It's more than television—it's testimony.