Headstrong, Confident, & Tenacious. Khadijah James is very much the Crusader especially when it comes to her magazine Flavor. And as a boss, she is honest, frank & direct. From her perspective, if she doesn’t do it, it won’t get done...At least correctly. And why shouldn’t she feel this way considering that this drive for excellence has taken her from being the child of a single mother in the projects of New Jersey to Owner and Self-Publisher of a magazine that will go on to be award-winning.
Because work has shifted from being her passion, to the punchline of her life.
So while Khadijah starts off the run of Living Single thoroughly consumed with making her way in the world, and being “Mother” to everyone but herself; by show’s end, she’s learned that as long as she’s got her girls to the left and the right everything will be a - ok.
This is my take on how Khadijah James learned to put one particular lady, that being herself...first.
Young, Gifted & Black:
Immortalized in song by Nina Simone, To Be Young, Gifted and Black is an empowerment song with the specific purpose to increase self-confidence and positively inspire the global outlook of Black children during the Civil Rights movement. From the country’s earliest days, African Americans have embodied the qualities of innovation, risk-taking, and determination to forge a path toward a better life, often by owning their own businesses.
As seen on tv in shows like The Jeffersons, and with career woman characters like Nurse Julia Baker in Julia and The Cosby Shows, Claire Huxtable. The Ladies of Living Single became the cultural touchstone for Black Gen-Xers that had now come of age. Khadijah also fulfills onscreen the promise of the cultural roles that Queen Latifah calls for off-screen. As part of the late 1980s ground-breaking, hip hop sisterhood that included artists like Salt & Pepper, MC Lite and Monie Love; Latifah’s politicized music and lyrics, notably, her debut album, Ladies First, suggests that African American women specifically should be venerated and respected. More importantly, as a character, Khadijah challenges High Culture with Street Culture by creating Flavor.
So, as a character, her mission becomes twofold:
(1) to manage a successful Independent Black magazine and
(2) to effect a positive change in her community.
A task that she takes very seriously.
Because Khadijah throws herself into Flavor 1,000%, it often leaves her financial and emotionally depleted, with every penny earned being recycled back to it’s publishing. She continuously pushes both herself and her staff to the breaking point. Plus, Khadijah expects this same staff to dedicate themselves to her dream just as much as she does. Having built Flavor from the ground up. She edits, manages, writes, supervises each issue, and doesn’t go to bed until Flavor goes out to press.
Khadijah is no holds bar, With her common refrain being “Khadijah don’t need ya.” As a result, though successful Flavor is constantly underfunded and leaves her staff, including her cousin Synclaire, feeling overworked and underpaid. A sentiment seen in season 4’s episode, "Not so Silent Partners."
At this point, Khadijah has already seen her staff though several scraps and Flavor’s readership is growing but, not fast enough. Not enough revenue is being generated to pay monthly expenses. Nor, is there any profit to left over to compete with more established and well-funded magazines. Once again, Flavor seems on the verge of completely collapsing.
Enter Jeremy Mills of Majestic Publishing.
Though just a year before, Jeremy tried to put her out of business, he seizes the opportunity to add Flavor magazine to his expanding publishing company. For Khadijah this means admitting that she can’t do this all by herself. and may have to in her words...sell out. Leaving her with the hard choice of either becoming part of someone else’s system or compromising her principles to save her business. She chooses to save Flavor. And initially the perks are great! There are fully paid lunches and Khadijah even gets her own office for the first time. But, when Khadijah becomes the fall guy, when Jeremy's health plan doesn't pan out. She does what she does best. Simply, by rolling up her sleeves, putting Jeremy in his place and sorting the mess out for her staff. Khadijah chooses to keep Majestic on as a partner but, makes it clear that when it comes to Flavor she’s the boss therefore, harnessing the system of capitalism for her own gain. By navigating this crisis,
Khadijah proves that she is not a token female,
Not a token African American,
Nor a token kid from the projects,
But an independent business woman.
And in doing so, proves that she has finally arrived.
If you like this and would like to hear more check out the full video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/AkTp-xdr5Y8