How Jada Pinkett Smith Made Us Feel That We Can Overcome Any Obstacle
Time and time again, the Smith family proved that they can literally do no wrong. Prior to becoming the newest king of Instagram and social media, Will Smith broke box office records merely for the fun of it. In due fashion, the Smith women created their intergenerational show through Facebook and were busy overcoming the confinements that run rampant in the psyche of Black women: maneuvering fame and the burden of responsibility at a young age in an industry that stifles creativity a majority of the time.
Their latest achievement just so happens to be facing off with pop culture’s first family, the Kardashian-Jenner family. Caught up in the crossfire of the drama, the Smiths happen to be close friends of the Woods’ family (through Jayden Smith and Wood’s father working on the set of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) and the Kardashians-Jenners respectively. When Jordyn, best friend of Kylie Jenner and social media influencer, found herself at the core of a media scandal, after she was associated with Kylie’s older sister Khloe ’s boyfriend, Tristan Thompson, she immediately ran to her family, just as any girl would do in a situation like this. In this instance, her family just happened to be one of Hollywood’s royal families.
Last Friday, Jordyn went to speak to her aunt and uncle ( Will and Jada) on Jada’s Red Table Talk, to share her side of the story exclusively. This has become one of the biggest interviews of the year (and at 27 million views, it’s the most Red Table Talk has accomplished). Even though I really don’t believe that the Smiths brought Jordyn on the show for financial gain, it was amazing to see a Black family make money off of a family that often appropriates Black culture.
via Twitter
Interestingly enough, in the Summer of 2017, Destiney Bleu, an independent designer battled the Jenner’s sister Kholé over stolen fashion designs. Bleu provided an inventory of receipts and brought in lawyers to prove the infiltration of her work into Khloé’s Good American merchandise. Khloe, of course, assured her that this wasn’t the case and the law ultimately benefited the Good American brand.
Back in November of 2015, Kylie launched extremely popular lip kits, which have continuously sold out since its release. Forbes noted that the cosmetics line sold over $630 million worth of products. Kylie became a self-made millionaire and was praised for her creations while Black women and their creativity are reduced to virtually nothing on national television.
The Smiths are without a doubt a family that represents the epitome of Black progression and love, and were both not born into success. Both Will and Jada come from Black, urban cities and worked their way to the top in Hollywood.
The Smiths are also a family that holds their ground and use their resources to promote necessary changes in society, dialogue, and reflection. It’s extremely endearing to know that in their efforts to protect Woods, they also had the ability to one-up the Kardashian’s direction of media narratives, amongst the idea that people feel like they have continuously stepped over the culture of Black women consistently.
When it comes to understanding what it takes to make it in Hollywood, it is honestly about who you associate with. And with a family like the Smiths in your corner , who are fearless enough to go against the grain— from holding the Oscars accountable , boycotting the Grammys, or standing up for and giving a voice to a young Black woman at her most vulnerable point in life — we can all be assured that there’s a family like this out there to uplift us in the name of justice.
