This 12th day of Black History Month, I’m shining the spotlight on What’s Happening!! and What’s Happening Now!! — two series that did something absolutely radical: They let Black people be funny, awkward, ambitious, stubborn, tender, and regular… on national television. No constant trauma soundtrack. No “very special episode” energy every week. No forced message wrapped in shame. Just life. And when Black folks are allowed to be fully human on screen, that is history too.

On this fifth day of Black History Month, there’s no more fitting subject than A Different World — a series that did far more than spin off from another hit sitcom. It shifted conversations in Black households. It reframed what “college” looked like on TV. It normalized Black intellect, Black community, Black debate, Black love, Black discipline, and Black joy — all inside the same half-hour.