Black Women and the Changing Television Landscape assesses some of the television programs that shifted representations of Black women in television, including The Beulah Show, Julia, Good Times, and A Different World, among others. Through examining the work of skilled Black female actors as well as writers and producers over the course of history, Lisa M. Anderson argues that they have created shifts in the representations of Black femaleness, whether they were recognized as such at the time.

Beginning with the early days of television with Hattie McDaniel and concluding with today’s dispersed television/streaming media world with Ava DuVernay, each program is situated in its social and political context and how it supported or opposed changes in television representation. This historical orientation of the book reveals how progress is non-linear, and how the reception of images shifts as social and political contexts change. Ultimately, this trajectory accounts for some of the significant changes in representation seen in the 2010s, notably the rise of several Black women showrunners as influential, and the ways in which Black women have made inroads into television production.