5 Kids Shows From The ’00s That Spoke To Me As A Little Brown Girl

I grew up in the ’90s before the internet blew up and big desktop computers were cool — the best thing about them was playing Solitaire.

I was young and introverted with thick, curly, black hair, dark brown eyes with thick eyebrows, and always the shortest one out of my friends. Fast forward to 2021 and nothing has really changed since then except I’ve now got killer brows (kudos to my beautician) and learned to be more comfortable in my own skin.

Growing up in a predominately white society is tough when you look like me — you’re often the odd one out.

I didn’t see much of myself reflected in the magazines I read or shows I watched — I think music was the only medium that I really connected with — thanks to Queen Bey, J.Lo, Rihanna and all the amazing women of colour out there.

Internet was still on the rise, so having TV characters that spoke to my experience growing up was important — especially when it came to navigating high school crushes, styling my hair, and learning to embrace the things that made me different, when all I wanted to do was fit in.

There were, however, a few shows that gave me solace and inspiration as a little brown girl growing up in Australia.

Let’s take a walk down memory lane as I share with you my top shows from the ’90s and ’00s.

1. Arthur

Arthur is the earliest memory I have seeing black cartoon characters on my TV screen — and it wasn’t just one character but a whole family. Like Arthur, I had a Buster as a friend (or many Buster’s because I was often the only black kid in my class until high school) but it was nice to see this normalising of interracial friendships.

The other thing I love about this show is theme song – I mean not only is it catchy AF but Ziggy Marley’s on the track and that was the hook for me, especially when Bob Marley, UB40, and Jimmy Cliff were household names in my home.

2. The Proud Family

In a nutshell, The Proud Family were a simplified version of my own big black family wrapped up in 30mins. You got a sassy grandma (check), an overprotective dad (check), and a smothering mum (…and check!).

I thought I was the only one that had to spend the weekend or holidays babysitting their siblings, while all my friends were out having fun — until I met Penny. She also reminds me of the internal war I used to have between doing good or joining your friends in mischief – even if that meant Mum and Dad cracking it when they find out.

P.S. Umm… Destiny’s Child sings the theme song and that was a reason in itself to love this show.

3. That’s So Raven!

While everyone was watching Hannah Montana, I was watching That’s So Raven!

Raven and I were similar but different. She didn’t sound like me but we had the same humour and seeing her on TV made my teenage years feel less daunting. She came from a hard middle-class working family and was confident, funny, and stylish — she was the cool friend I always wanted.

And talking about important issues like racism, body image, and high school crushes as a young black teenager is what made the show for me.

4. Emperor’s New School

Emperor’s New School was cool for the fact it’s set in a place and time where colonisation hadn’t happened: characters are all Indigenous, chilling in traditional clothes, living how they’ve lived for years in Peru without any disruption to their culture or lifestyle.

Kronk was also my main man because he sometimes reminded me of the airhead in me… I mean, who doesn’t love a big goofball, am I right?

5. Recess

Recess was way more progressive than it gets credit for – it had characters from all different backgrounds and covered topics like class systems, racism and breaking social norms.

But Recess wouldn’t be recess without woke Miss Grotke — the teacher who was iconic for challenging racism and gender inequality in the classroom. She was the real OG and the teacher every black kid wished they had.