Throughout its eight seasons and years in syndication, it was lauded as a series that shined in the face of racial stereotypes that pervaded media in the ’80s and early ’90s.
“You can’t take away the work that we all collectively did,” Knight Pulliam, 44, tells PEOPLE exclusively, referring to herself and costars likePhylicia Rashad,Malcolm-Jamal WarnerandLisa Bonet.
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Knight Pulliam hopes the show can still be celebrated for changing the landscape of television.
“A lot of actors wait their entire lifetime for an opportunity like that,” she says. “I’m grateful I have been a part of a piece of work that has really transcended generations and that’s still teaching lessons that are relevant today.”
Keshia Knight Pulliam.Alan Singer/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty; Paras Griffin/Getty
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Knight Pulliam says her daughter Ella Grace, 5, is watching and learning those same lessons today: “Now my daughter is able to enjoy the work that I did, and it’s funny because she looks so much like me.”
As for plans to commemorate the show’s 40th anniversary next year, “I don’t know,” she says. “There’s nothing that we’re working on or discussing at this point, so I guess we’ll have to see.”
source: people.com
