So we preceded to internet stalk this Black comedic genius.
Brunson was born and raised in West Philly. Her name means “fifth” in Spanish and signifies that she is the youngest of five children. How cool is that? Though raised as a Jehovas Witness, she has described herself as “obsessed” with comedy from the time she attended high school. She took some improv classes but eventually dropped out after attending Temple University and Second City Theater where she took classes for a semester. Quinta’s claim to fame was on Instagram via a series she developed and appeared in called Girl Who Has Never Been on a Nice Date. That helped her secure a gig at Buzzfeed Video where she developed and sold more stories like Broke which was nominated for a streamy award in 2017. She worked heavily developing pilots for network tv many of which weren’t green lit. She was casted by Robin Thede in A Black Lady Sketch Show but left after season 2. In May 2021, ABC picked up her single cam pilot, Abbott Elementary which was originally called Harrity Elementary. The show aired its pilot episode on December 7th and is a hit.
The teachers at Abbott Elementary are reflective of inner city public school teachers. Many of times the teachers are the ones learning from their students like in the episode New Tech where Barbara portrayed by Sheryl Lee Ralph, from Moesha, is the old dog that can’t learn a new trick. The show has a clever way of teaching the audience as well. As Barbara struggles to come to term with changes as she gets older, Janine, Quinta’s character, who is awe of all of Barbara’s achievements as a grade school teacher doesn’t understand why she couldn’t ask for help. It’s a satire or perhaps analogy of what we see in our a world right now. Young vs old, tech vs anti -tech, and millennials vs gen z, it all seems relative. The truth is we all have a place and a part to play. The mockumentary styled show also focuses on another reality, how desperately under funded inner city schools in the US truly are.
We want to give Quinta her flowers today.
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