1. That’s So Raven

Raven was a strong and funny female lead, appealing to my young self. I even used to curl up on the couch and watch the show with my mom. This show was one of the first black sitcoms I had ever seen. And the storyline was great. A black teenage girl with psychic powers. I mean how cool is that? The theme song was great with raven singing featuring Eddie’s rap. The episode storylines always ended with a meaningful message with lots of laughs along the way. This show will forever go down as one of the best Disney shows in history.

2. The Proud Family

I loved this show so much. I am still trying to find a place where I can watch every full episode of every season. This show taught me the importance of family and friends. Who didn’t love Oscar yelling “Trudayyyy” all day and Penny and her friends’ music group LPDZ. And who could forget when they were on “Hip Hop Helicopter!” This show was relatable, funny, and it had the absolute best theme song featuring Destiny’s Child and Solange. Although it had a few stereotypes thrown in there, I can still appreciate this amazing all black cartoon on Disney Channel.

3. Lizzie Mcguire

This show was one of my favorites because Lizzie was a relatable character. She was a little awkward and shy just like I was. She valued her friendships and would always try to find a way to stand up to the antagonist Kate. In my elementary school days, I had a Kate and sometimes would look to Lizzie on how to handle the situations I would face at school. 9 times out of 10 they failed when I tried, just like they did when Lizzie tried. I will always remember watching the opening theme as a kid, bouncing on my mom’s exercise ball to pretend I was on the tv, participating in the theme music video.

4. The Legend of Korra

This show was on Nickelodeon unlike the others but nonetheless an amazing show. Now I watched this show when I was a little older because somehow the content appealed to my teenage self. I watched the original Avatar: The Last Airbender just because it was something to watch but I absolutely loved The Legend of Korra. She was a powerful and strong female lead with the ability to bend all elements. I thought that was so cool even though I was probably 14 or 15 when I started watching it. I believe part of my reason loving her was that the story was set in Ancient Asia I believe yet she was brown skinned. So I immediately thought well she’s a black female superhero! I could be wrong, but I’ll just go with it until proven otherwise. She was tough, powerful, and still had a vulnerable spot to be in love. This was a great show, displaying the greatness in a powerful woman.

6. Totally Spies

My last but not least favorite kids' show was none other than Totally Spies. This show was amazing and I loved that the show included three strong female leads. They were sassy, smart, and could figure out almost any mission and succeed. They would go from enjoying their top notch Beverly Hills high school to hopping on a plane to Italy or France to stop some crazy person from taking over the world. I, of course, loved the theme song and could not wait to come home from tennis camp and kick back and watch some Totally Spies.

All these shows have something in common. They all presented strong female leads and that is something I really looked up to as a child and even now. I appreciate that this type of show was presented to children to inspire them that women can do anything they put their minds to and not to limits on what we can do.