Lena Waithe's 'The Chi' keeps it real about what it means to be black on the South Side
CHICAGO - Over the past few years as I've looked around at TV and movie projects filming in town I've often wondered, when is someone going to come along and make a TV show about Chicago that's really about Chicago?
"The Chi" (premiering Sunday on Showtime) goes a long way toward answering that. It is one of the most anticipated TV series of the year and, based on the four episodes I've seen so far, for good reason: "The Chi" is smart and absorbing and true to the city's sense of self and the variety of black lives within it. Created by Chicago native Lena Waithe, the show pushes back - confidently and entertainingly - on twisted perceptions of the city that have become so politically expedient as of late.
"The show is about what it means to be black and human and trying to survive on the South Side of Chicago," said Waithe when we sat down to talk late last year. "Being a black person in American is exhausting. And I think we still live in a world where I don't know if we're seen as fully fledged human beings. I think people still have ideas of who we are, so that's where the show came from."
The first episode was made available free on YouTube and other formats a few weeks back, and judging by the positive response on social media, it was a smart move.
Waithe herself is originally from the South Side, growing up at 79th off the Dan Ryan before moving to Evanston as a preteen. She would go on to graduate from Columbia College before making the
