So why were the 90's EMPIRICALLY the best time to be raised as a Black child??? You ask. What about us 60's kids who go a first hand look at Black revolution, who forever changed the way we conceptualized our hair and had the sexy mod clothes and the music. What about the 70's kids who got to live during the age of DISCO DIVAs, blaxpolation and a bevy of media firsts that have helped black even unto today push the envelops for first. Or what about the children of the 80's with funky asymmetrical cuts, rap, spandex culture that is still coveted even in today's world. They had the first rich black family in the form of the Cosby's, Tootie of the facts of life and got to experience the first Black man's bid for president in the form of Mr. Jesse Jackson? Or the new millennium we have a black man as president... Really do I need to say anymore? What you say, could be SO Special in the nineties that hadn't already been covered. Well for started I was raised in the nineties! Duh! lol naw but for real I personally would like to take this time to highlight why the nineties were, well, THE BEST!
1. The nineties fashion!
African Attire
Thug Apparel
historically Black college an university sweaters and hats
2. Movies:
Sankofa,
White man's burden
Independence Day
Boomerang
Polly
Meteor Man
Major Payne
Clueless
Get on the Bus
3. Television
Living Single
Martin
In living Color
Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Oprah
Mantis
Parent Hood
Different World
Teen Summit
My brother and Me
Kenan and Kel
All that
4. Culture
OJ Simpson
Black on black love
Michael Jackson
Hair
Million Man March
Music
Black college and university attendance
music videos witih black women in them
LA Riots
And they were most cool becasue with out all the ground breaking, pride showing, entertainment laden 90's we would have never colmenated unto the new millenium and had Mr. Barack Obama and his family running the country!
PS...
You know you're a 90's kid if...
You've ever ended a sentence with the word "PSYCHE!"
You can sing the rap to "The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air"
You've worn skorts and felt stylish
You yearned to be part of the Baby-Sitters club
You use to love playing with your MY Little Pet Shop
You know that "WHOA" comes from Joey from "Blossom" and that "How Rude!" comes from Stephanie from "Full House"
You remember when it was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons.
You wore a ponytail on the side of your head and had fluffed bangs
You got super excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at school.
You wanted to change your name to "JEM" in kindergarten
You remember reading "Goosebumps"
You know the profound meaning of "Wax on, wax off"
You have pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf.
You took plastic cartoon lunch boxes to school.
You remember the craze then the banning of slap bracelets and slam books.
You still get the urge to say "NOT" after (almost) every sentence...Not...
You knew that Kimberly, the pink ranger, and Tommy, the green Ranger were meant to be together.
You remember "I've fallen and I can't get up"
You remember going to the skating rink before there were inline skates
You ever got injured on a Slip 'n' Slide
You wore socks over leggings scrunched down
" Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack, all dressed in black, black, black, with silver buttons, buttons, buttons, all down her back, back, back" SHE ASKED HER MOTHER MOTHER MOTHER FOR FIFTY CENTS CENTS CENTS TO SEE THE ELEPHANTS ELEPHANTS ELEPHANTS JUMP OVER THE FENCE THE FENCE THE FENCE" he jumped so high high high he touched the sky sky sky and he didnt come back back back til the forth of july ly ly he jumped so low ow ow he stumbed he's toe oe oe and thats the end end end of the elephants show ow ow
You remember boom boxes vs. cd players
You knew what it meant to say "Care Bear Stare"
You remember Alf, the little brown alien from Melmac and Vicki the Robot from "MY Little Wonder"
You remember New Kids on The Block when they were cool
You knew all the characters names and their life stories on "Saved By The Bell"
You played and or collected "Pogs"
You used to pretend to be a MIGHTY MORPHIN Power Ranger and you owned a Skip It
You had at least one GigaPet or Nano and brought it everywhere
You watched the original Care Bears, My Little Pony, and Ninja Turtles
All your school supplies were "Lisa Frank" brand.(pencils.notebooks.binders.etc.)
You used to wear those stick on earings, not only on your ears, but at the corners of your eyes.
You remember a time before the WB.
You've gotten creeped out by "Are You Afraid of the Dark?"
You thought it would be so cool to be Alex Mack.
You know the Macarena by heart.. LOL
" Talk to the hand" ... enough said
You thought Brain would finally take over the world
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16 hours ago
I agree. It looked liked we were headed somewhere in the 90's. And Then, Bush got elected! But our worst enemy were ourselves unfortunately. I remember in the early 90's when Blacks use to wear the leather African Medallions and the black nationalist movement was on the rise. But then I remember groups like N.W.A going on Arsenio and speaking against it. Dissing Blacks who supported it and calling it a phase (like gangsta rap wasn't). Shortly after, we lost all our Black shows and Talk Shows. B.E.T sold out and so on. We went back to being tokens on television and even disrespected with shows like South Park and Family Guy. I remember Blacks tore the towns up over Rodney King back then when the cops BEAT him, But didn't do squat when they KILLED Sean Bell and others over 10 to 15 years later. Also The light-skin movement is back into play as well, WTF? Once again, dark-skin brothas and sistas with more talent are getting disses by Hollywood over lighter ones with less talent. Sorry, but it needed to be said.
ReplyDeleteI came across this post and although I'm late commenting, I just had too. I laughed and reminisced on my childhood. Ironically, the things you mentioned fit my memories perfect-the only thing is I am a child of the 'Eighties', born at the end of the 'Seventies'. But I can relate, so some of those things you have mentioned were trans-generational (is that a word?) and one question: Did you watch the Thundercats? He-Man? She-Ra? or Inspector Gadget? If so, you may in fact, be an 'Eighties' child disguised in a 'Nineties' child body :)
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