Brought to you by history-making Emmy winner Lena Waithe, the first black woman to win Best Writing in a Comedy for the episode “Thanksgiving” from Master of None, The Chi follows various characters coming of age in the south side of Chicago.
It’s a personal story for Waithe, who grew up in Chicago. She told Entertainment Weekly:
I never thought I’d write about the city, but I just got to a place in my life where I think it was so misunderstood. It’s a different side of my voice, about being black and human and trying to survive and have a dream. It’s raw. It’s real. I’m not sugar-coating. It’s not, ‘Let’s show black people in Chicago in a positive light.’ It’s, ‘I want to show people in a human light.’
Let’s just say the last person I heard talk like this about telling a story in their hometown was Donald Glover, and his show turned out pretty freaking excellently.
The Chi already looks like an interesting show with a different vibe to a familiar setting. Knowing that it’s a personal story by a proven talent like Waithe just makes it all the more tempting. Sign me up.
The Chi debuts on Showtime on January 7.
