My guess is the fine print in Kadeem Hardison's acting contract must read ...
Dwayne Wayne is at it again with teaching hard-headed, lovable gangstas
Feel how you wanna feel about comedian/actor Bill Cosby, but there’s something to be said about the young, black men who became famous from his shows. I couldn’t be more ecstatic to see Malcolm-Jamal Warner branch into podcasting with “NAH (Not All Hood).” Theo is all grown up, and talking fatherhood, relationships, hip-hop, n-word versus comrade, and more.
Recommended Read: “Malcolm-Jamal Warner has passed away and, nah, I'm not OK ~ From childhood to adulthood, fond memories of one of my favorite childhood stars”
He’s unashamedly black, unapologetically grown, and a phenomenal balance of no-nonsense and approachable. (Read the footer to find out how my interaction with him at the DuSable Museum went.)
And although Kadeem Hardison was on a completely different show after “The Cosby Show,” there are parallels between the characters Theo and Dwayne Wayne on “A Different World.” Both men played memorable roles as teachers. Both didn’t hesitate to take on troubled, young, black, gifted boys in their classrooms. Both of them had challenges with parents. And both were solid examples of how teachers should act in a classroom setting.
Recommended Read: “Black teachers, please don’t tear down your black students ~ Contrary to popular belief, words do hurt”
But I’m starting to think Kadeem Hardison has some kind of mandatory requirement in his acting roles that he must confront ice-cold killers with that “jar with no lead” approach. Malcolm’s teacher role was brave, but Kadeem’s teacher roles are somewhere between tough and stone-cold crazy — from “A Different World” to “The Chi.” Does Kadeem Hardison require his characters to all have nine lives?
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How else do you explain him going from being shoved into a hallway wall, defending Billy (Kris Kross’ Chris Kelly character on “A Different World”), to him confronting Douda about Bakari on Showtime’s “The Chi”?