The Smith family has been in my life for most of my memories. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air aired from 1990 to 1996 when I was 3 to 9. I know we all know how formative and important Full House is and was to my life, but Fresh Prince was comparable. I liked these shows for similar reasons—family units that functioned differently than mine, a strong sense of humor, a sitcom framework—but Fresh Prince was a Black show. And Full House is not. Many, many pop culture juxtapositions represent my racial identity the mixed-upness of it, and these are two of the most important ones. Shows that helped shape what I find funny, what I like in a television show, and who I like as people in this world.
This isn’t about Full House, though, or even Fresh Prince. This is about the Smith family and, even more so, Jada Pinkett Smith.
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