Actresses Yolonda Ross and Birgundi Baker are joined by other cast members of “The Chi” on the July cover of Ebony magazine. The cover featured the cast in a garden, dressed in formal to semi formal attire. Ross is seen wearing a blouse shirt scrunched up at her midriff and a long, flowing floral skirt. Baker on the other hand, standing just above Ross, is seen wearing a short white two-piece top and skirt, see-through black gloves and dramatic head wear. Alongside their cast, Ross and Baker looked back on the evolution of the show as it enters its sixth season.
A Culturally Dynamic Series
The Chi, a television series created by Lena Waithe, centers around the lives of the residents of a tough neighborhood in South Chicago and the murder that ties their lives together. The show has been lauded for handling sensitive, often complicated subject matters with nuance and care. It is credited for offering a new light to the complexities of Black life.
“I’m emotional because one of my favorite things about this show is them giving me the opportunity to play all those ranges,” Baker told Ebony about her role in the series. “Because when I was growing up, I didn’t see dark women go all the way on a show like that. And so this is really, really, really like everything to me. It’s really an honor to be able to do that, because we exist, and we exist just as much as everybody else.”
Ross chimed in on the topic.
“Just like everybody knows a Kiesha, everybody knows a Jada,” she said referring to the character she plays on the show. “She’s that strong Black woman who’s in the neighborhood taking care of a child, working, taking care of herself, putting money away. She’s that woman. But then, she is also vulnerable. She also has emotions, and to see her in those private moments is I think what makes people really respond and pay attention to the show, pay attention to the characters because they connect to them.”
Ross has appeared in other projects including the Angela Bassett directed “Whitney” while recently appeared on “Praise This” the gospel musical film starring Chloë Bailey.
Season six of “The Chi” takes the characters through dynamic phases of their lives. The new season is set to premiere August 4.