Grace Notes in Context

A look back to now: returning to Hillman College at 70. Video commentary © Grace Notes. Some of us, like me, are positively giddy after binge-watching the 2026 sequel series of A Different World on Netflix , because at 70 I am certainly not watching Hillman through the same eyes that watched it nearly four decades ago. My son was six years old when the original A Different World first came into our homes, and now here I am, a grandmother watching a new generation walk onto fictional Hillman College while my own granddaughters, 18 and 22, are themselves enrolled at HBCUs. Talk about seismic nostalgia and pride , because this is quite literally my look back — to now. But before I get carried away with the nostalgia, kudos are in order. The level of acting and storyline development, the bridging of the past with the present, the reclamation without simply trying to imitate what came before, the casting, writers, producers and this wonderful co...