Best known for her role as Whitley Gilbert in the NBC show, A Different World, Whitley Gilbert is an award-winning actor, dancer, and director. Born on March 10, 1962 in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Jasmine Guy attended the Northside Performing Arts School (now the North Atlanta High School). After graduating high school, Guy received a scholarship from the Alvin Ailey Dance Center and moved to NYC to study performing arts. In 1987, Jasmine Guy landed the role of Whitley Gilbert on The Cosby Show spinoff, A Different World. Beginning as a co-star, Guy later became the leading actress, after the original star, Lisa Bonet left the show. A Different World ran for six seasons and Jasmine Guy, in addition to appearing in every episode, wrote three episodes and directed one. She was also nominated for six consecutive NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Role and won four times in between 1990 and 1994. Guy is also active in multiple projects that promote and preserve African American history and culture such as the film recording of the 1930s WPA ex-slave narratives, entitled Unchained Memories: Slave Narratives and the autobiography of Afeni Shakur, the mother of Tupac Shakur, Black Panther and activist. I grew up watching Jasmine Guy in A Different World and loved watching her character develop and mature throughout the seasons. As Whitney Gilbert, Jasmine Guy was able to highlight that black women can come from various forms of social and economic backgrounds but despite our backgrounds, we all have a journey to go on. At the end of that journey, we will emerge more knowledgeable of the world, our position in it, and the change we can inspire in our communities.