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The Black Pack: Comedy, Race, and Resistance
The Black Comedy, Race & Resistance is the first book to chronicle the untold history behind the iconic collaborations between a legendary group of comedians—Eddie Murphy, Paul Mooney, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Robert Townsend, and Arsenio Hall—who joined forces as the “Black Pack” in the late 1980s to create a series of socially-charged comedies that revolutionized popular culture and transformed American comedy.
Working together as writers, directors, producers, actors, and consultants, the Black Pack created some of the most provocative and enduring Black films and television shows of the twentieth century, including classic productions like In Living Color, Coming to America, Hollywood Shuffle, and The Arsenio Hall Show. The Black Pack collective was armed with a signature comedic style which combined politically-Black satire with edgy social humor that entertained millions, shattered box-office records, and slyly critiqued America’s racial condition. Amid escalating social tensions in the 1980s, the Black Pack’s comedic output transformed anger into art, wielding the cloak of humor as a rebellious tool to confront unjust business practices in Hollywood and challenge racial narratives embedded in American culture. Their work empowered unapologetically Black voices and expanded creative possibilities for Black artists in the entertainment industry.
In The Black Pack, Artel Great delivers the most comprehensive analysis of this groundbreaking comedy collective, uncovering how the group’s socially and politically-charged humor defied systemic barriers to achieve unprecedented commercial success and establish a cultural legacy that continues to inspire media creators today and across new generations.
Working together as writers, directors, producers, actors, and consultants, the Black Pack created some of the most provocative and enduring Black films and television shows of the twentieth century, including classic productions like In Living Color, Coming to America, Hollywood Shuffle, and The Arsenio Hall Show. The Black Pack collective was armed with a signature comedic style which combined politically-Black satire with edgy social humor that entertained millions, shattered box-office records, and slyly critiqued America’s racial condition. Amid escalating social tensions in the 1980s, the Black Pack’s comedic output transformed anger into art, wielding the cloak of humor as a rebellious tool to confront unjust business practices in Hollywood and challenge racial narratives embedded in American culture. Their work empowered unapologetically Black voices and expanded creative possibilities for Black artists in the entertainment industry.
In The Black Pack, Artel Great delivers the most comprehensive analysis of this groundbreaking comedy collective, uncovering how the group’s socially and politically-charged humor defied systemic barriers to achieve unprecedented commercial success and establish a cultural legacy that continues to inspire media creators today and across new generations.
248 pages, Paperback
Published June 17, 2025
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June 25, 2025
Thanks to Edelweiss and Rutgers University Press for the digital copy of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Hollywood Shuffle, In Living Color, Beverly Hills Cop, Living Single, Coming to America, The Arsenio Hall Show, Do the Right Thing. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was a Black renaissance going on in Hollywood. Eddie Murphy, Robert Townsend, the Wayans brothers, and Arsenio Hall were breaking new ground and elevating the Black experience on TV and in the movies. They affectionately called this collective group of performers The Black Pack.
I’ll admit, as a tween and teen in that era, I adored Eddie Murphy and occasionally watched the Arsenio Hall Show, but I had no idea until much later the impact they had on the Black community. I watched In Living Color, but as a lily-white kid in a lily-white suburb in Wisconsin, I didn’t always connect with the music and brand of humor.
Learning about all the obstacles The Black Pack soldiered through to get the opportunity in films and television really made me check my privilege. Pop culture was forever changed by these comedians, and I would highly recommend for anyone interested in multicultural studies.
Hollywood Shuffle, In Living Color, Beverly Hills Cop, Living Single, Coming to America, The Arsenio Hall Show, Do the Right Thing. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was a Black renaissance going on in Hollywood. Eddie Murphy, Robert Townsend, the Wayans brothers, and Arsenio Hall were breaking new ground and elevating the Black experience on TV and in the movies. They affectionately called this collective group of performers The Black Pack.
I’ll admit, as a tween and teen in that era, I adored Eddie Murphy and occasionally watched the Arsenio Hall Show, but I had no idea until much later the impact they had on the Black community. I watched In Living Color, but as a lily-white kid in a lily-white suburb in Wisconsin, I didn’t always connect with the music and brand of humor.
Learning about all the obstacles The Black Pack soldiered through to get the opportunity in films and television really made me check my privilege. Pop culture was forever changed by these comedians, and I would highly recommend for anyone interested in multicultural studies.
Displaying 1 of 1 review