12 Black TV Moms We Wished Raised Us

1. These are some of our favorite, loving, bad a** TV moms. We love them so much, they might as well be our real moms in our heads.

Cookie Lyon–Empire

This sassy mama came back from jail with a mission to reclaim her cubs. We’ve been constantly inspired by her come-back, her smart mouth, and her business savviness.

2. Rainbow Johnson-Black-Ish

Rainbow is the quirky, hilarious mama we all wish we had. Tracee can even make “Do your homework” sound funny.

3. Nikki Parker- The Parkers

This mama gave us all the life with her confidence and witty clap backs.

4. Dee Mitchell-Moesha

Sheryl Lee Ralph is still our mama in our heads. She was always the cool headed mother and wife of reason, but she could definitely lay the law down when she needed too.

5. Vivian Banks—Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air

The Black world was shocked when Aunt Viv suddenly looked..different. But the new Aunt Viv continued to carry out the role with grace and dignity.

6. Lisa Landry—Sister, Sister

She was the more sporadic and fun one of the parent pair–and the girls (Tia & Tamera) were better for it. Could you imagine being stuck with your nerdy, stuffy dad all day?

7. Tasha Mack–The Game

Tasha Mack was the single mama with talent in her uterus. She single-handedly helped Malik build his career, and she wasn’t going to let any man or woman stop that empire.

8. Janet Kyle–My Wife And Kids

Janet Kyle was probably known for her meltdowns more than anything, but her motherly love made up for the bouts of crazy.

9. Harriet Winslow–Family Matters

Harret Winslow was the steady voice of reason when Carl was losing his sh*t. Everybody needs some Mama Winslow in their life.

10. Maya Lewis-Scandal

Okay, maybe we wouldn’t want to be raised by this sultry, evil, seductress, but if Olivia turned out kick-ass (albeit, a little insane), maybe she didn’t do so badly after all.

11. Clair Huxtable–The Cosby Show

Clair is just totally who we want to be when we grow up: wise, smart, and doesn’t take any sh*t.