A Different World

I love going back and re-watching shows that defined periods of my coming up. There are shows that defined my teenage years, shows that defined my early adult years, shows that defined my time spent overseas. And there are three shows that defined my childhood and pre-teen years: A Different World, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and The Cosby Show. My parent’s generation and many of my generation remember well these shows. Sadly, most of the younger generation do not even know of their existence or of the impact any of these shows had on black youth and the black community.

I have had both the honor and privilege to meet both Kadeem Hardison and Jasmine Guy from A Different World. I met Kadeem Hardison when I was a pre-teen at Allen Iverson’s Celebrity All Star Classic baseball game at the Virginia War Memorial Stadium. While I did not spend the day with him or converse with him like I did Jasmine Guy years later, I remember walking down the bleachers and sliding the program through the fence next to the dugout, asking for his autograph and telling him I used to always want flip up glasses like his character Dwayne Wayne had, and telling him that I used to think he was the coolest brother on the show. My contact with him lasted a minute tops, but I remember him looking at me and asking, “You’re going to college, right?” I told him yes and that my parents would kill me if I didn’t and he replied, “Good. That’s good to hear lil man.” As a kid, hearing Dwayne Wayne tell me, “That’s good to hear” and calling me “lil man” was so ridiculously cool.

I met Jasmine Guy just a few months ago while I was finishing my first associate’s degree. My school had put on an exhibition for Black History Month about black men and women in sports and entertainment, and she, along with Nikki Giovanni, was one of our main guests. I was Student Vice President, and part of my student governmental duties included assisting college guests from time to time. I had the distinct pleasure of being Ms. Guy’s aide and escort for the event. You never know how famous people are in real life, and sometimes you, as a fan, are disappointed when you learn they are not what you thought. However, Ms. Guy turned out to be one of the nicest and most down to earth people I have ever met, famous or not. When she learned I had a baby boy, she demanded to see pictures and I swear I probably went through all 400 of them on my phone, with her gushing about him at each picture change. I told her how, as kids, my older sister and I couldn’t wait for the next episode of A Different World to come on, how we never missed a show, and how much it meant for her to play a role in one of the most influential shows during one of the most influential times of a young black kid’s life. Many actors just play a role and get paid. But I was impressed by her candor and her dedication to and belief in her role and in the show, because it was much more than a role and much more than just a show.

At that time, A Different World was revolutionary. Never before, and sadly, never since, has there been a successful major network show about successful black youth in college. This show in particular, took black youth from different backgrounds, different skin tones, different parts of the country, and put them all on a campus of a Historically Black College. It covered topics we in the black community still struggle with today: early/unplanned/unwed pregnancy, rape and sexual assault, abusive relationships, drugs, drinking, gang violence, our health, differences between rich and poor, HIV and AIDS, politics, slavery and racism, etc. If you can think of it, I can probably guarantee there was an episode about it. The shows were only 20 minutes long, but those episodes packed life lessons into them. Here, we had a group of young black men and women who were searching for their identity and a place in this world. Through triumph and failure, tragedy and blessings, heartbreak and fondness, they rose above whatever obstacles life could throw at them. They became successful black men and women, despite their obstacles and despite their backgrounds. Dwayne Wayne was an engineer, and Lena, played by Will Smith’s future wife, Jada Pinkett, was studying at Hillman with Dwayne to become one. Whitley Gilbert-Wayne became a teacher. Kimberly Reese became a doctor and married one of her fellow med school students. Jalissa Vincent became a marketing executive and operated her own temp agency. Unlike most of Tyler Perry’s work, which portrays even successful black men as cheap, cheating, abusive, insecure men, A Different World took both the perspectives of the Black Man and the Black Woman and showed them as equally strong, loving, and capable black men and women who complemented each other.

The same goes for The Cosby Show and The Fresh Prince. Heathcliff Huxtable was a doctor and his wife Claire was a lawyer, with 5 kids between them, living in a brownstone in Manhattan. Uncle Phil was a circuit court judge with a wife and three kids, living in Bel Air. In all three shows, none of the characters were athletes or rappers or famous singers. There was a strong emphasis on education. In both The Cosby Show and Fresh Prince, ALL of the kids ended up going to college. Denise Huxtable, from both The Cosby Show and the first season of A Different World, is the only character to have dropped out of college. Along with ADW, both of these shows also had episodes that dealt with issues we continue to deal with today.

Young black boys grew up watching these shows, wanting to be a Dwayne Wayne, an Uncle Phil, a Dr. Huxtable, a Walter Oakes, or a Col. Taylor. I did. Young black girls grew up watching them, wanting to be a Claire Huxtable, a Vivian Banks, a Kim Reese, a Whitley Gilbert, or a Sandra Huxtable. We watched these shows and thought to ourselves, “I can do that one day.” Not all, but many of us have dealt with racism. . I was 7 years old in 1993 when A Different World ended. At the time, it was interesting-to say the least-to be a young black kid in the early 90’s. If you remember that time, you know what I mean, if you don’t, it would take a book to explain I remember my grandma and grandpa telling me growing up, “As a black man, the world expects you to end up either dead, in jail, or both. Prove them wrong.” The sad thing is that this still rings true. As black youth, we were expected to dress, walk, talk, and act like we were “ghetto.” We were, and still are, expected to get in trouble with the law, kicked out of school, have babies, etc. The world at large did not, and does not, look at us and expect us to be successful. We are expected to be a statistic before we reach the age of 21. These shows took those expectations and threw them out the window. These shows gave us examples of what we could be, the opportunities and success we could have. When the world told us, “You’re not and you can’t,” these shows told us we could stand, face the world, and declare, “NO! I AM and I WILL!”

The Cosby Show ended in 1992, A Different World ended in 1993, and The Fresh Prince in 1996. All three, because of their casting, backgrounds, plots, and settings were revolutionary. All three gave young black kids like me examples past basketball/football star or entertainer. All three told kids like me, “You CAN go to college. You CAN have the same opportunities. You CAN be successful. You CAN.” Sadly, since the Fresh Prince series finale, there have been no shows like that. There are shows for nearly every demographic you can think of, but since these three, none for a young black kid. Our young black boys don’t have any Dwayne Waynes to look to, no Uncle Phils, and no Dr. Huxtables. But we do make sure to give them Lil Waynes and Jay-Zs and Kanyes. We make sure to teach them, instead of going to college, educating yourself, conducting yourself with poise and class, go ahead and act a fool. We teach them to disrespect women. We teach them to disrespect and disregard anyone who isn’t giving them money or a handout. We teach them that working hard for 4 years to get a degree is pointless when you can throw on some baggy…or skinny…jeans and a hat 3 sizes too big, rhyme some words, and if you can’t do that, then you can just make words up. We teach them that all you have to do is make a shocking video and put it on YouTube and you’ll be famous. Our girls don’t have any Claire Huxtables. But they do have Beyonce’s and Rihannas. We make sure to teach them that their minds don’t matter, that success isn’t getting an education and positioning yourself in the upper echelons of top scientific/medical/business fields. We teach them all they have to do is dress skanky and twerk. We don’t teach our Claires and our Whitleys and our Vivians to seek educated, strong, and loving black men like Dwayne and Uncle Phil and Dr. Huxtable. But we make sure to point out the Jeezys and the Weezys and the Chris Browns.

It saddens me to no end, partly because since then, we have done nothing of the sort to keep telling our youth that they ARE and they CAN. It saddens me because the Whitleys and the Vivians and the Claires of these shows were not just successful business women, they were mothers and housewives. Now, our girls aspire to be like La’Bonquiqui’tisha from “Real Housewives of…” For years before, we cried for something other than the cheap, toxic, and foolish colorings of the blacksploitation” films. When these shows came out, it was like a breath of fresh air and the black community sighed a sigh of relief. We thanked God…and Bill Cosby…for these shows. Then, they ended. They ended and, it seems, so did our self-respect and sense of dignity.

There is one thing I know for sure, when my son grows to a certain point, despite his beautiful almond shaped eyes, despite his mixed heritage, the world will stop seeing him as a cute little mixed baby and they will see him as a black man. I know what the world and those in it will tell him and expect of him. Hopefully I’ll be the right example for him and hopefully he’ll have others. But, if I’m all he’s got, more than anything else, I will teach him, like my father, grandfather, Dwayne Wayne, Uncle Phil, and Dr. Huxtable taught me: Forget what everyone else expects. Expect more from yourself and always strive to do and be more. After all, when you get out there, it certainly is a different world.