In the media there are different kinds of people and one of these kinds is the hippie earthy different chick. Now these come few and far between especially in the black community so here are few of these people.

So I just finished watching A Different World on Netflix (if you’ve never watched it check it out on there) a ‘80s-‘90s TV show about the fictional HBCU Hilman College. On this show was Lisa Bonet who took her character Denise there for a season and then for the next 5 seasons a new character came on the scene played by Cree Summer Freddie Brooks. These two were those hippie different kids on the shows and I loved them and was much needed in the media.

Now if you watched the Cosby Show at all you know that Denise was the different character on the show. She was the character with the cool hairstyles and the crazy outfits (in the best way) and really brought that earthy-hippie weird black girl vibes to the show. Her taste in guys was no different as the guys she dated where super diverse from the guy who loved Reggae to the guy who was a non-conformist to the guys her dad would set her up with.

This of course carried on to when she came onto a Different World and the way she decorated her dorm room with all her weird treasures and was all about her feminist principals (course with Claire Huxtable as your mom how couldn’t she). She got Dwayne Wayne to run for Gilbert Halls President, hated his sexist advances, despised Whitley’s stupid remarks on marriage and women’s rolls in life and ran track.

Once Denise left A Different World after one season she took a year off went to Africa on some Peace Corps-ness and then marries an army man with a kid (Raven) and then moved back home. Her end game is her moving to Japan with her husband and getting pregnant.

 

Fast forward to season 2 of the show when Freddie comes in to replace Denise. She takes Denise to a whole another level. Freddie is that unapologetically woke black friend who is hippie and all about fighting the cause for her people. She is spiritual, all about black power, women’s rights & fighting for the earth (she will fight for the corn). Her character has a chance to evolve on the show and grow up. Freddie is mixed black and white mom white dad black and she has a white cousin. She grew up in New Mexico and just rolls in like tumble weed bringing in her hippie vibes to anywhere she goes. Plus she had the best outfits that complimented her character perfect from tunics to dashikis to dresses to sweaters with a message. Growing up in New Mexico she was very down with the Natives there.

For the most part though she went without a boo on the show although she had many crushes from Dwayne to the guy who tried to rape her to the guy who was socially aware like to even losing her v card to Ron Johnson the lady killer during a storm. Nothing really stuck for her until Shazza came into the picture. Now yes he was a little fake woke in ways but he complimented Freddie so well that it just fit (plus he was fine). They were the black power woke TV couple there for a while till they broke them up for Ron. They were goals though Freddie & Shazza forever and in my mind they were end game. We even get to meet her hippie mom who’s mom hated that she married a black guy and had a black baby as she thought she would amount to nothing but she proved her wrong. Even Freddie’s mom wanted her to end up with Shazza after she brought him home to meet her and they did a sweat lodge together. So yea she ends up with Ron in the end and that’s not the weirdest part by the time the last season rolls around Freddie wants to become a lawyer. Now I get that’s all I hear that sometimes you have to fight from the inside out but it still felt bit of a weird transition. Anyway Freddie was an amazing character and I truly look up to her in many ways. She was like my woke big sister I could come back to for advice just by putting on an episode on Netflix.

 

Outside of A Different World and the Cosby Show Lisa and Cree where just as cool as their characters.

Lisa went on to have a baby with dreamy rock star Lenny Kravitz and was naked in a movie while just staying flawless in the best way all before 25. Plus she can sing and has done some music with Cree Summer which their voices complement each other so well. Of course she is no longer with Lenny but they are raising an amazing women Zoe with her own set of pipes and movies to boot. Lisa also remarried to sexy man Jason Momoa with three amazing kids with him. The best part of it all though is how well they all get along Lisa, Lenny & Jason which again goals. At 48 years old Lisa is still rockin it with her locks and half shaved head still bringing her uniqueness to the scene. All and all she is just somebody who will always be unique, fresh and different.

 

Cree has always made a splash as well with her work. She started out in voice acting before becoming Freddie and after the show went off the air she went back to voice acting which if a cartoon had a black character in it then Cree most likely voiced them. She did Susie from Rugrats, Elmira from Tiny Toons, Penny from Inspector Gadget, Miranda from As Told By Ginger and Numbuh Five from Code Name Kids Next Door just to name a few. She also has put out music and is an amazing singer which take woke hippie Freddie and make her a singer and you have Cree’s music. I feel like Cree and her character Freddie where very alike which I liked a lot which is why it felt so authentic. Oh and she is also an adopted member of the Cree First Nation tribe and grew up on the Red Pheasant Reserve in Saskatchewan part of her life. At 46 she is happily married with two super cute kids (check them out on Instagram) and is just an amazing gypsy soul.

 

Another person who is like Lisa and Cree is this earthy hippie indie artist Kamara Thomas. Now most of you might not know too much about her but she started off in this really boho grunge band called Earl Greyhound back in the mid to late 2000s and they were like a staple at AfroPunk Fest back then. It was her playing base/singing and a white guy on guitar/singing and a black guy on drums. They reminded me of a Led Zeppelin like band with sort of a Foo Fighters like sound. Also the way they dressed was like they were right out of the ‘60s-‘70s music scene. They wore their hair long or a ‘fro wore tonics, dashikis, cool dresses and bell bottom jeans. Then in 2013 she starts doing some solo music and moves to North Carolina from New York where the band started. She now does more folk-blues just her and her guitar but is still just as boho as ever.

 

Someone else who reminds me of Kamara Thomas is Brittany Howard. She is the lead singer/rhythmic guitarist of Alabama Shakes and boy does she have some pipes on her. Their music is very folk-bluesy and Brittany just gives you all kinds of musical goodness. Plus she makes us curvy girls fill beautiful in all the nice outfits she wears from dresses to jeans and flannel to nice vest and earrings. She also rocks the ‘fro and natural hair styles which look amazing on her. She is a mixed bird like Cree and is also the singer of her other side band Thunderbitch. Brittany says she is influenced by Nina Simone.

Kimya Dawson is a folky-indie artist who is very DIY like and underground. She started out in the band the Moldy Peaches before going solo. Kimya was part of the AfroPunk soundtrack as well as had a pivotal roll in the movie soundtrack for Juno. She loves to wear the ‘fro and has piercings and tattoos all over her body and dresses very tom boy in jeans, shorts, t-shirts and sneakers. Kimya got married in 2006 and had a daughter but is no longer with her husband.

Ok thats all for now.

Tell Next Time Stay Weird…