The second season of Showtime’s Dreaming Whilst Black on Paramount+ sees Kwabena, played by series creator Adjani Salmon, doing his best to climb the ladder in Britain’s film industry while keeping his soul and culture intact. If he doesn’t, he knows he’ll have to hear it from his uncle Claude (Roger Griffiths), who already chewed him out over the events of Season 1.
Salmon told Blavity’s Shadow and Act that Kwabena and Uncle Claude continue to clash this season. However, Claude’s reactions to Kwabena’s successes and setbacks come from a place of love — even if that love is complicated.
Kwabena and Uncle Claude represent a generational clash
Salmon said Uncle Claude’s perspective reflects a more traditional view of success, especially compared to Kwabena’s creative ambitions.
“It’s about what does love look like, right? And, ’cause I do think that Uncle Claude loves him and wants the best for him, that’s just from his perspective. Whereas [Kwabena’s mother, played by Jo Martin] shows her love by supporting him, right?” said Salmon. “His uncle’s perspective is, ‘Well, that’s cute, but you need to pay rent. You need to work to buy a mortgage and try to get married like your cousin. I have kids and that’s what success looks like.’”
“So, I think it is really a clash of generations and that understanding of sacrifice as well. We make a joke in there about him wanting to be a singer and in his time, he couldn’t,” he continued. “So for us, it’s just showing the difference in generations and how love manifests depending on your worldview.”
The reality many creatives face
Salmon also said Kwabena’s struggle to succeed mirrors the experience of many creatives in real life. While people often dream of fame and success, they also face the reality that sometimes taking a job that pays well — even if it isn’t their passion — may be necessary, especially when bills need to be paid.
“You know, especially as Black creatives in the UK and I’m sure in America as well, there’s a lot of the time we can critique when we see people do jobs—’Oh, why would you do that?’ And it’s like, it’s a job. I think that, that at the end of the day, you can’t critique someone for doing a job,” he said. “I’m sure accountants have the same thing. I’m sure accountants don’t love every firm that they work at, but it’s a job, right? And it’s the same for teachers, I’m sure, and nurses—they don’t love every hospital or every contract they get, but they have to work.”
“The things we don’t have the answers to are the things that we decide to show,” he said of the series. “To just present both perspectives. Yes, Dreaming Whilst Black is one of those shows that I try to do with integrity, but equally, not everyone can do that. That doesn’t mean it’s a good or bad thing. So we just kind of present the case for people to decide.”
Dreaming While Black Season 2 is streaming on Paramount+.
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