“Niecy Nash exploded, for me, on a show called Clean House. She, as the hostess, led a fix-it-guy, an interior designer, and a woman who is a master of details into houses not too many miles from their studio. Problem solvers led by a Black mother approach to personal problems that breathed dysfunction into the homeowner’s lives, and their awful homes transformed the dirtiest, and most cluttered homes. There was nothing demeaning about her carriage, speech, or demeanor. One hundred years ago the producers of the show would have fed into the expectations of their public and Niecy’s role would have been subservient, and felt good for white audiences. Black artists would be seething beneath their appearances, and Negroes would justify it in short-winded clichés laced with pride, hope, rage, and compliance.” – Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories
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