*Spoilers for the plot of Netflix’s Blood Sisters below
I have to admit, when it comes to new and original content that keeps me dialed all the way in, Netflix typically misses a few steps for me. I’m not sure if it's their competitors’ content that has me in a chokehold (hey, HBO Max, Hulu, Peacock, etc.) or if I’ve written the platform off too soon as somewhere to chill with old throwback faves. Either way, one Sunday evening I sat down ready to tackle some work and flipped through the platforms for a show or series I could watch for more than just an hour. Now, if you’re like me, you need some background noise to help break up the work you’re about to fall headfirst into. Just me? Cool.
I landed on Netflix and immediately was greeted with a “Top 10” suggested series, Blood Sisters. Beautiful Nigerian women, shovel in hand, suspense, and…did I smell drama? Okay, I thought, let me give this a try. I hit play and put the remote down, with plans to focus on the work - while also trying to take in the plot.
Let’s just say my week would never be the same.
Side-note: This contains SOME spoiler alerts. I will not reveal everything but read at your own risk.
The story of Blood Sisters centers squarely around the importance and beauty of the relationships that are closest to us in our lives; whether chosen or blood. The series opens as we see the gorgeous Sarah and her mega-successful fiancé Kola, preparing for their engagement party. Kola immediately gives me “catered to for his whole life, while being mommy’s fave” vibes, and boy was my “f-boy” radar on point. Kola is one of three children to a villainous mother, Udak, who makes no secret that she prefers Kola over her other two children, choosing him to run their family business, and, in turn, causing a never-ending power struggle led by drugs, booze, sex and oh…hired hitmen to take baby boy Kola out. At his engagement party. Whew, I was glued all the way in.
After, we find out that golden boy Kola is just about as copper as the pennies that fall between the cracks in your purse. In fact, he’s not only jealous, controlling, and abusive, he seems to have himself convinced that it’s “normal”. Sarah and her best friend Kemi are the only ones who are over trying to act like Kola is who he isn’t and, after a beating during the party, the best friends, who have been inseparable since they were 5 years old, hatch a plan to get Sarah out of her engagement. The only problem? The plan backfires majorly and the two best friends go from trying to find a way out of a bad relationship to trying to find a way out of the venue with Kola’s dead body.
Yes, the besties are now “killers.” What happens next goes from figuring out how to get rid of the body and evidence to how to portray themselves as grieving and, finally, making a decision to run and get out of the country. Even with all the drama going on around Kola’s murder, and his evil mom, Udak, using every resource she has to remain the biggest “B”, the story has a LOT going on. Family betrayal, murder, suspense, culture, and the importance of having a ride or die bestie.
While I won’t give up any details on Kola’s murder (like who did it and why), just know that by the end you’re less sympathetic to his murder and more enamored with the true-blue love relationship between Sarah and Kemi. Never wavering. Never questioning. Honest and protective. No, I’m not advocating for having your best friend's back when they’re wrong…but I am advocating for not abandoning them when they are. Kemi and Sarah are fictional characters with real-life similarities to many best friendships out there. Whether you’ve known them forever or are newly connected, a relationship that is worthy enough of being called a “best friend” should always be a safe space to empower and be empowered, and to remind you of your worth.
Yes, most best friendships don’t involve running from organ harvesters or bounty hunters, but let's assume they did…which side are you on with your bestie? Once the police found out that two unlikely suspects were likely involved, the two best friends had a heart-to-heart. One advocating for turning themselves in and the other for running. “I never want to do anything without you being by my side,” one says to the other. It hit me hard. My best friend, Lynette, is my ride or die. From college to adulthood and now transitioning to being those pesky adult children who have to remind their parents to go to doctor’s appointments by wagging our fingers at them, we’ve been through a lot. Through every bad decision, heartbreak, side-eye, and even a disagreement, (which felt as intense as running from the law), I’ve seen the beauty of a sisterhood that doesn’t abandon but uplifts. The sisterhood that makes space for you to be you - not who you pretend to be to the outside world. The sisterhood that makes you a better person and will go to the ends of the world to make sure you see it. And vice versa.
The audience may have started the series engulfed in a toxic love story about Kola and Sarah, but we ended it realizing that the true love story was between two best friends who never gave up on each other. The idea that one person believing in and riding for you can impact your own vision for what you can and can’t do was so prevalent in the series, that I had to pause it a few times to ask myself “What would you and your bestie do?”
Blood Sisters is beautifully shot, has amazing cultural highlights, and an amazingly talented range of creatives and I’ve literally been telling everyone I know about it. Aside from the deep and meaningful relationship between the best friends, the consequences of mistreating or glorifying family members can’t be denied. It doesn’t matter who we are, how much money we have in the bank, or what fancy clothes adorn our bodies, at the end of the day, there will be a reckoning for how you treat people in your life.
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Featured Image via Netflix
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The seeds for these entrepreneurs were planted during their time as students at schools like Spelman, North Carolina A&T, and more, which is why xoNecole caught up with Look Good Live Well’s Ariane Turner, HBCU Buzz’s Luke Lawal and Morehouse Senior Director of Marketing and Comms and Press Secretary Jasmine Gurley to highlight the role their HBCU roots play in their work as entrepreneurs, the legacy they aim to leave behind through the work that they do, and more as a part of Hyundai’s Best In Class initiative.
On Honoring HBCU Roots To Create Something That Is For Us, By Us
Ariane Turner
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When Ariane Turner launched Look Good, Live Well, she created it with Black and brown people in mind, especially those with sensitive skin more prone to dryness and skin conditions like acne and eczema.
The Florida A&M University graduate launched her business to create something that addressed topical skin care needs and was intentional about its approach without negative terminology.
Turner shared that it is important to steer clear of language often adopted by more prominent brands, such as “banishing breakouts” or “correcting the skin,” because, in reality, Turner says there is nothing wrong with the way that our skin and bodies react to various life changes.
“I think what I have taken with me regarding my HBCU experience and translated to my entrepreneurial experience is the importance of not just networking,” Turner, the founder and CEO of Look Good, Live Well, tellls xoNecole.
“We hear that in business all the time, your network is your net worth, but family, there’s a thing at FAMU that we call FAMU-lee instead of family, and it’s very much a thing. What that taught me is the importance of not just making relationships and not just making that connection, but truly working on deepening them, and so being intentional about connecting with people initially, but staying connected and building and deepening those relationships, and that has served me tremendously in business, whether it’s being able to reach back to other classmates who I went to school with, or just networking in general.”
She adds, “I don’t come from a business background. As soon as I finished school, I continued with my entrepreneurial journey, and so there’s a lot of that traditional business act and the networking, those soft skills that I just don’t have, but I will say that just understanding how to leverage and network community and to build intentional relationships is something that has taken me far and I definitely got those roots while attending FAMU.”
On Solving A Very Specific Need For The Community
Luke Lawal Jr.
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When Luke Lawal Jr. launched HBCU Buzz, his main focus was to represent his community, using the platform to lift as they climbed by creating an outlet dedicated to celebrating the achievements and positive news affecting the 107 historically HBCUs nationwide.
By spotlighting the wonderful things that come from the HBCU community and coupling it with what he learned during his time at Bowie State University, Lawal used that knowledge to propel himself as an entrepreneur while also providing his people with accurate representation across the internet.
“The specific problem in 2011 when I started HBCU Buzz was more so around the fact that mainstream media always depict HBCUs as negative,” Lawal says. “You would only see HBCUs in the mainstream media when someone died, or the university president or someone was stepping down. It was always bad news, but they never shed light on all the wonderful things from our community."
So, I started HBCU Buzz to ensure the world saw the good things that come from our space. And they knew that HBCUs grew some of the brightest people in the world, and just trying to figure out ways to make sure our platform was a pedestal for all the students that come through our institutions.”
“The biggest goal is to continue to solve problems, continue to create brands that solve the problems of our communities, and make sure that our products, our brands, our companies, and institutions are of value and they’re helping our community,” he continues. “That they’re solving problems that propel our space forward.”
On How Being An HBCU Alum Impacts The Way One Shows Up In The World
Jasmine Gurley
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Jasmine Gurley is a proud North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University alum. She is even more delighted with her current role, which enables her to give back to current HBCU students as the Senior Director of Brand Marketing and Communications and official press secretary at Morehouse College.
“It was a formative experience where I really was able to come into my own and say yes to all the opportunities that were presented to me, and because of that, it’s been able to open the doors later in life too,” says Gurley of her experience at North Carolina A&T. “One thing I love about many HBCUs is that we are required to learn way more about African American history than you do in your typical K through 12 or even at the higher ed level."
She adds, “It allowed us to have a better understanding of where we came from, and so for me, because I’m a storyteller, I’m a history person, I’m very sensitive to life in general, being able to listen to the stories and the trials that our ancestors overcame, put the battery pack in my back to say, ‘Oh nothing can stop me. Absolutely nothing can stop me. I know where I came from, so I can overcome something and try anything. And I have an obligation to be my ancestors’ wildest dreams. Simultaneously, I also have a responsibility to help others realize that greatness.
Gurley does not take her position at an HBCU, now as a leader, lightly.
“People think I’m joking when I say I’m living the dream, but I really am,” she notes. “So I wake up every day and know that the work that I do matters, no matter how hard it might be, how frustrating it may be, and challenging it. I know the ripple effect of my work, my team, and what this institution does also matter. The trajectory of Black male experiences, community, history, and then just American advancement just in general.”
On the other hand, through her business, Sankofa Public Relations, Gurley is also on a mission to uplift brands in their quest to help their respective communities. Since its inception in 2017, Sankofa PR has been on a mission to “reach back and reclaim local, national, and global communities by helping those actively working to move” various areas of the world, focusing on pushing things forward for the better.
“Through Sankofa, we’ve worked with all different types of organizational brands and individuals in several different industries, but I would think of them as mission-based,” says Gurley.
“So with that, it’s an opportunity to help people who are trying to do good in the world, and they are passionate about what they’re doing. They just need help with marketing issues, storytelling, and branding, and that’s when my expertise can come into play. Help them get to that moment where they can tell their story through me or another platform, and that’s been super fulfilling.”
Join us in celebrating HBCU excellence! Check out our Best In Class hub for inspiring stories, empowering resources, and everything you need to embrace the HBCU experience.
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