I grew up watching her as the spoiled rich girl on the popular sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. But Karyn Parsons is nothing like her TV persona. In fact, she’s quite the opposite.
When I interviewed Karyn Parsons for for Mornings On 1 at NYC Transmitter Park in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, I was pleasantly surprised by her humble demeanor and bubbly personality. We greeted each other with a hug, as if we’dknown each other for years.
Parsons and I talked about how she building a legacy with her animated series, Sweet BlackBerry. We also discussed her childhood, as well as her time on the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
I first came across her Sweet BlackBerry series while searching for something to watch on Netflix a while back. The story about Janet Collins, the first African- American prima ballerina stood out to me.
My daughter Anastasia has been taking dance lessons for the past four years and I thought she’d be interested in learning about how this black trailblazer triumphed in the white world of classical ballet.
Fast forward to preparing for my interview with Karen Parsons and I quickly realize that she’s the creator of the short film that I shared with my daughter, in addition to a couple of others.
Each animated short film tells the story about black achievements including Janet Collins and Henry Box Brown. Brown was a slave who escaped slavery by mailing himself in a box to the north.
Parsons explained how her mom and TV dad, James Avery, played such an integral part in bringing her animated pictures to life.
The former Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star now passes along the stories she learned to students, as well as her two young children. Parsons also visits schools to talk about Sweet BlackBerry, and encourages students to follow their dreams.
But the most important message Karyn Parsons shares is how important it is for everyone to learn about black history. “It’s not just for black people,” she says. However, learning about influential black people in school has its limits.
I remember learning about Martin Luther King, Harriet Tubman, and Frederick Douglas in school. We also discussed poets like Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes, but list of notable African Americans were pretty short.
But according to Parsons, there’s a reason for that. Unfortunately, teachers aren’t able to cover everything in class. Therefore, it’s up to parents to fill in those gaps.
My husband and I having been working toward filling that void. We continue to teach our children about their identity through our family history. Teaching them about their heritage is important for building a legacy.
