Willow Smith is not down for cancelling anybody.
Last Friday (June 19), Willow joined her mom, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and grandma, Adrienne Banfield Norris for a special Juneteenth episode of Jada’s talk show, Red Table Talk. Joining them was civil rights leader Dr. Angela Davis and activist Tamika Mallory.
They group discussed the current events leading up to and have since transpired related to the Black Lives Matter movement. Jada noted that there has been widespread support for the movement and voiced her hope that “maybe it’s the generations to come” that will really make a change.
“When I look at Willow’s generation they have a different mindset,” she said, adding “Kids are growing up with this understanding that you can be whatever you want and you’re not defined by your oppression, or your gender or your color,” she added – to which Willow agreed, admitting her peers are really “blurring the lines” across the board.
The discussion also led to the “cancel culture” becoming prevalent in today’s society.
“That is so prevalent right now,” Willow said. “I’m seeing people shaming others, like saying really terrible things, shaming people for what they’re choosing to say or shaming people for not really saying anything at all. If we really want change, shaming doesn’t lead to learning.”
Tamika chimed in, saying “cancel culture is a little dangerous” since nobody’s perfect. “You do have to leave people room to make mistakes,” she expressed.
Angela pointed out how technology has been a big help in organizing and mobilizing many of the things that needed to be done. However, she also warned against “the tendency to shortcut everything and to assume that everybody has to know everything already.”
“This is a moment in which we can share and learn and sing and converse,” she added, hoping for more conversation over cancellation. “People should not be afraid of being canceled because the made a mistake.”
“This is a time for conversation and of course, people are going to say something wrong,” Jada agreed, pointing out that “there is no safe middle.”
“You just gotta know your position and you just gotta be steady. If you’re in this conversation and you’re in this movement, fire’s coming your way and that’s okay,” she added.
In related news…
Over the weekend, Will Smith opened up about how daughter Willow introduced him to feelings.
On the Father’s Day episode of Red Table Talk, Will had a one-on-one conversation with his wife, Jada, where he reflected on becoming a parent and how raising his kids – Trey, from a previous relationship, and Jaden and Willow, whom he shares with Jada – has taught him a lot more about himself and about life.
Will shared that the “first moment of the real weight of parenting” hit him when Trey was born.
“I brought him home, and I remember we put him in the bassinet… and it was like stark terror,” he said. It was like, ‘I’m totally responsible for this life.’ I just cried so hard. It makes me teary right now.”
Fighting back tears, Will explained, “I thought like, ‘I can’t do it. I’m not the guy.’ Oh man, I just knew I didn’t know nothing. Oh man, I’m going to need to get myself together.”
When Jaden and Willow arrived, he also had to adjust his parenting style.
“I would say that “Whip My Hair” thing put a pause button on my overt parenting,” Will shared. “I stopped, and I just started watching my kids, and with Willow, I started to see that there was a higher value in talking to her about how she feels about the situation versus how to fix the situation, and it became the new thought process for me.”
He said that his daughter “introduced me to feelings” and “destroyed all of my belief systems.”
“Because if I don’t care about how I feel,” the father of three explains. “I damn sure don’t care how you feel.”
