‘Black-ish’ Star Marcus Scribner Sends Positive Message to Fans Amid ‘Hopeless’ Times (Exclusive)

With a show that tackles a plethora of subject matter between cultural identity, socioeconomic issues and topical news stories, Black-ish is no doubt one of the more edgy and brilliant sitcoms on primetime television today. But with topics that can be so bleak and create cause for concern that often align with social movements, the series that follows an affluent African-American family navigating the waters of white suburbia has also been promoting a more healthy, public discourse amid our current social climate.

Series star, Marcus Scribner, best known for his hilarious, big brother role as Junior, the ABC single-camera comedy shared some encouraging words with fans in an exclusive interview with PopCulture.com after admitting “it’s easy to feel hopeless in 2019.”

“In 2019 there’s a lot to feel hopeless about,” Scribner shared with PopCulture.com. “But, always believe in yourself and know that you have that power within you to become whatever you want, as long as you stick to your education, stick to your reading and stay positive.”

The recent USC student recently partnered with Frito-Lay Variety Pack Snackable Notes to help benefit Feed the Children, as part of their initiative to feed up to two million hungry children.

“I just think it’s such a positive initiative and positive message, and to top it all off, it’s taking place in my neighborhood,” he said when asked why he hopped on board. “I actually grew up in Los Angeles not too far from here, off Crenshaw and Pico, so it’s nice to be able to give back to your community. And the Frito-Lay [Variety Pack] Feed the Children partnership is amazing.”

He continued to reminisce on how his mother use to write sweet notes for him to see when opening up his lunch bag and said what Frito-Lay Variety Pack is doing, brings back that sweet memory.

“Frito-Lay’s [Variety Pack] releasing limited time bags with a little area for you to write your own little note on it,” he explained. “Parents to children, kind of how back in the day people used to write little notes on paper lunch bags for your kids. I know my mom used to do that for me, and it always made me feel so good and happy. You’d go to recess and you got a positive message, you know that someone loves you out there.”

Visit www.snackablenotes.com for more information on how to help feed up to two million families through this movement.

The 19-year-old is gearing up for Season 6 of Black-ish, which is set to air Sept. 24.

“I’m really pumped for the direction that Junior’s character is going in. He’s trying to figure out his way in the world, which should be pretty interesting,” he said.

Last season ended with Junior telling his family that he had no plans on returning to college. Instead, he was going to start working full time covering social media for Migos — the rap trio — and let’s just say the Johnson family was not thrilled about his decision.

“Who knows?” he responded when asked if Junior would change his mind this coming season. “It’s a very volatile situation. Junior chose the path that he thinks is best for him, but we’ll see how it cooks. It’s cooking because so far in the first episode it’s looking kind of interesting and a bit dicey. So I’m excited for everybody to get to see that …”

Scribner said the public knows about as much as he does when it comes to the direction of this season because “to be honest, I haven’t even gotten all the scripts [yet], we just started filming.”

Another new season he’s looking forward to is Mixed-ish — a spinoff of the popular sitcom series — that stars Junior’s mom Rainbow, played by Tracee Ellis Ross, and what it’s like growing up of mixed race.

“Even just growing up in the school system there’s obviously a lot of name calling: oreo, different things like that, and it’s kind of cool to see that there’s a show like Mixed-ish,” he said. “From what I’ve heard, it’s extremely hilarious! I love all the kids who are on the show, so it should be pretty exciting. I’m pumped to see how it shakes out and obviously the time period is very nostalgic. I think people will really enjoy it.”