Debbie Allen on Legacy, DADA, & A Different World Reboot |Color Of Conversation with Mara Brock Akil

Debbie Allen on Legacy, DADA, & A Different World Reboot |Color Of Conversation with Mara Brock Akil
In this Color Of Conversation, legendary director, choreographer, producer, and cultural icon Debbie Allen sits down with award-winning creator Mara Brock Akil for a powerful, intimate discussion about artistry, legacy, and purpose. From transforming A Different World into a groundbreaking series that tripled HBCU enrollment, to founding the renowned Debbie Allen Dance Academy (DADA), Allen’s career is a masterclass in using creativity as a force for cultural change.
The conversation spans Allen’s fearless approach to storytelling—tackling race, politics, and representation in mainstream television—while also revealing deeply personal moments about family, mentorship, and her belief in creating safe spaces for the next generation. She shares behind-the-scenes stories of working with Bill Cosby, reviving The Sinbad Show, directing Girlfriends, and her philosophy of leading with love on every set.

Allen opens up about the challenges facing arts education, including funding barriers and restrictions on diversity-focused programs, calling on the community to protect and invest in cultural institutions like DADA. She also teases the reboot of A Different World and her upcoming Broadway project, August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone starring Taraji P. Henson.

With humor, candor, and unshakable purpose, Debbie Allen reminds us of the power of art to inspire, heal, and transform—and why now, more than ever, we must preserve our stories. This is not just a conversation—it’s a call to action for artists, educators, and anyone committed to the future of Black culture.

#DebbieAllen #MaraBrockAkil #ADifferentWorld #BlackExcellence #DADA #BlackJoy #SafeSpaces #Storytelling #Dance #Broadway


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About Martha’s Vineyard African-American Film Festival
Established in 2002, the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival (MVAAFF) is an Academy-Award® accredited Black Film Festival where independent and established African American filmmakers can showcase, screen and promote emerging feature, documentary, and short films from across the world. The brainchild of husband and wife team, Floyd and Stephanie Rance, the MVAAFF provides a nurturing environment for African American filmmakers to test their creativity, while providing sponsors a captive audience to promote their brands among a highly discerning community of people of color.

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Run&Shoot Filmworks, producer of the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival (MVAAFF), is a film production company credited with creating outstanding visual work for several clients including HBO, Martell Cognac, Reebok, NBC Sports and Footlocker. For the past 18 years, Run&Shoot Filmworks has produced the MVAAFF with the primary goal of providing a positive environment where filmmakers can share their thoughts, ideas and aspirations with each other without judgement with the goal of supporting one another.