Karyn Parsons's Bio

Karyn Parsons is best known as the character “Hilary Banks” on the long-running television show “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.” Today, she is the founder of Sweet Blackberry, an award-winning series of children’s animated films and books sharing stories of unsung black heroes in history. The films feature narration from such notable talents as Alfre Woodard, Queen Latifah, Chris Rock, and Laurence Fishburne. They have been screened on HBO and Netflix and are enjoyed by schools and libraries across the country. Karyn has also authored the Sweet Blackberry picture books Flying Free: How Bessie Coleman’s Dreams Took Flight and Saving The Day, which tells the story of how Garrett Morgan invented the traffic signal. Karyn’s debut novel, How High The Moon, was released in March 2019, her latest novel, Clouds Over California, hit bookshelves in July 2023, and Little, Brown recently acquired Parsons’ new novel, Blue Beach – her YA debut - and is scheduled for a summer 2025 release.