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Tavis: Karyn Parsons is a talented actress. We recall her as Hillary Banks on the long-running series the "Fresh Prince of Bel Air," which I still see every single night. You still get paid for that every day?

Karyn Parsons: Um...

Tavis: Yeah, okay, whatever. (laugh) She's now a partner in a New York-based production company called 'Sweet Blackberry.' A company that produces educational DVDs like this. The first in the series is out now, just in time for Black History Month. "The Journey of Henry Box Brown" is narrated by Alfre Woodard of 'Desperate Housewives.'

It'll be screened here in L.A. this month at the Magic Johnson Theater, near my house. Karyn, nice to have you here.

Parsons: Thank you, nice to be here.

Tavis: Nice to see you, happy belated New Year to you.

Parsons: Thank you very much.

Tavis: So, I love this, but for those who don't know, since they haven't, perhaps, read about this, you have a baby now.

Parsons: Yeah, I have a two and a half year old.

Tavis: A two and a half year old baby.

Parsons: I have a toddler.

Tavis: So yeah, it's funny. So, can I say my favorite line?

Parsons: Go right ahead. (laugh)

Tavis: Hillary is somebody's mama, ain't that funny? (laugh) Hillary is somebody's mama. Two and a half year old.

Parsons: I don't get it, but (laugh) okay.

Tavis: (laugh) How is motherhood? You enjoying this?

Parsons: I love it. I love it. Yeah, I think it's the most amazing thing I could have possibly done. And for this, it's actually what inspired me to get this thing moving. To get the company, 'Sweet Blackberry,' moving and actually follow through and bring a story like "The Journey of Henry Box Brown" to the kids.

Tavis: Inspired you because you didn't find stuff for your child that you wanted her to be exposed to, or?

Parsons: Well, when I was pregnant with my daughter, I started really thinking about the responsibility that I faced as a mother teaching her Black history. And for me, in the schools they taught us some, they taught us very little, or taught me very little. I only learned a handful of stories about amazing people.

But just a handful of stories. And so my mother, who's a retired librarian, told me about 12 years ago, about the story of Henry Box Brown. And I was so amazed by his story, by his courage, by the fact that I had never heard the story. And then everyone I would tell about it would say they hadn't heard of it. And I thought back then, 12 years ago, that it would be a great story for kids.

And then I would put the project down, pick it up, put it down, over the years. And then when I was pregnant with my daughter, I started thinking again about how important it was, and like I said, the responsibility that I faced. And my husband said stop talking about this, it's a great idea. You gotta just do it. And so, I put 'Sweet Blackberry' together.

Tavis: That begs the question of what the story of Henry Box Brown is all about, for those who don't know this story. It's a fascinating story, to your point.

Parsons: It's an amazing story.

Tavis: I love the story, yeah.

Parsons: It's an amazing story. Henry Brown was a slave who in 1848 literally put himself in a box, applied postage, and mailed himself from Virginia to Pennsylvania, to freedom. Just an incredible story.

Tavis: Hence Henry Box Brown.

Parsons: Box Brown, that's the name. (laugh)

Tavis: Yeah. (laugh) Got there alive.

Parsons: Yes, yes.

Tavis: Tell me what the challenge is, Karyn, of telling a story like this. A story about slavery. These stories have some rough edges to them. How do you prepare -to kids, yeah?

Parsons: Yeah, that was a big challenge, and I think we were really concerned in the beginning too. Because we were going for four years old and up. Now, is that too young to breach the subject of slavery? You don't know. And I've talked to so many parents who were concerned about how do you bring up subjects like this, and when do you?

And so, we did a lot of research, I did a lot of research, and found a way to tell the story with animals that he meets along the way and other things, and well, you have to see the DVD to see it. (laugh) But we found a way to bring it to children in a way that makes them question what it is to be free, and what freedom means to them, etcetera. And I think we succeeded, because the feedback has been fantastic.

Tavis: You intimated a moment ago, you gave one example, I should say, of the elements that you use. You talked about the fact that Henry meets animals along the way. But give me, for those who have not seen it, and certainly parents who would like to know, what are some of the elements that you use to tell the story that makes it kid friendly, user friendly?

Parsons: Well, I think one of the ways it really helped to use the animals is we have a bird who flies and is free and doesn't know what it could possibly mean to be, what is a freedom thing? Why would up put yourself in a box and do this? And so, you have Henry having to explain it, and he's never had to explain it before, 'cause he's been a slave his entire life.

So he's trying to explain what freedom is, and then he has to do with same thing with a mouse. And he asks, what are your favorite things to do? And as the animals that he meets on the way tell him what their favorite things are, and they're all these things he can't do as a slave, he just doesn't have the freedom to do, they start to understand better what it is that he wants, and what he's pursuing.

And then he has to find out for himself what it ultimately means for him, and he finds out at the end what slavery really was, and what freedom really means to him.

Tavis: One of the reasons I wanted you to come on the TV program here on PBS is because we had a similar conversation on my radio show on PRI, and the response that we received to that conversation was so wonderful, so overwhelming, that I thought we'd reprise this conversation on television.

And one of the things that got, again, me interested in talking to you a second time was that it seems to me there's got to be a huge market for stuff like this. What I mean to suggest by that is in the most multicultural, multiracial, multiethnic America, it ain't just that Black folk need to be empowered by stories like these. To my conversation with Nell Painter, there's a whole lot of stuff that just ain't being told.

Parsons: Yes. Well, that's absolutely true. And these are people who are such, this is a real person who did this. Now, if his story is lost, I'm talking about for all of us, not just for African Americans, and not even just teaching this, these are geared toward children, yes, but it's for all people to learn about. I didn't know about Henry Box Brown 12 years ago. And a lot of people don't know who he is.

So I think we all can benefit from the stories of these people. All people can. All ages. I think that's really important. All races. And these people's struggles and everything they went through, it's almost like that would be for nothing if we didn't take the gift that they left us.

Tavis: Let me switch gears somewhat slightly here. How do you see this in the context of your Hollywood career? And what I mean by that is, it's one thing to be an actor and to have the opportunity to entertain people, as you've done. To enlighten people, to empower people, to any particular roll that you play allows you to do for the audience, you're giving the audience something. How do you see your work with this kind of project with 'Sweet Blackberry?'

Parsons: Well, I think obviously, having been on television and like you said, still on television, (laugh) even way after the show is over, I think that kind of visibility and coming into people's homes, they know you now, and feel like they're familiar with me, has given me an incredible advantage as far as being able to get the word out about this to people.

And get people to listen to me a little bit, and say look, this is what we're doing, and it is important, and just check it out. And then they check it out, and they can see for themselves what it is. But it's definitely helped in that way.

Tavis: What do you like of the idea of being on the producer side of a project?

Parsons: Well, it's very different from being an actor, I'll say. (laugh) Like I said before, my husband had a lot to do with kind of kicking me and going, get going. 'Cause he's an independent filmmaker.

Tavis: So he's used to this.

Parsons: Exactly. And for him, he doesn't wait around for anybody. For anything. (laugh) As an actor, it's a far more passive role. You wait for your agent to tell you about auditions, or you hear about them, and you audition, and you wait for a call back, and then you go. Then you wait. It's a lot of waiting around.

And then you get a job. It's very passive. It's very, very different to be on this side of things, and it's taken a lot of having to reformat things in my brain. I like it a lot, though. And this means so much to me.

Tavis: I was about to ask, to that point, I would assume, then, you tell me whether I'm right or wrong about this. I would assume that getting a project off the ground like this that is now meeting with some success has made you look at this kind of opportunity, futuristically, in one of two ways. Either you now have a greater appreciation for your husband's struggles every day.

Parsons: Oh, boy. Oh, boy. (laugh)

Tavis: Or you said to yourself, I love this project, but this producer thing ain't for me. It's too much work. I'd rather wait for my agent to call about the auditions.

Parsons: No, no, no, no. If I didn't care about what I was doing so much, if it was just something that was for money and that kind of, like, just, like, I'm just trying to find something, just a niche. Like you brought up earlier the fact that there's, I think you were kind of saying there's nothing like this out there right now.

Tavis: Absolutely, sure.

Parsons: Now, that wasn't my intention when I started doing it. It wasn't to do it because there was nothing out there. As I researched, I found out that indeed, there wasn't anything out there. And that's great, that we can bring this to people. But for me, I think, because I love it so much, I love playing producer in this.

If I were doing something I didn't care about so much, it's a lot of work to not care that much. And it's a small organization that we have. It's a really small organization. But it's been great. It's been very fulfilling.

Tavis: I can't close our conversation without giving a shout out to your mama. (laugh) Because anybody whose mama is a librarian...

Parsons: Oh, yeah.

Tavis: You didn't have no choice. You had to read, you had to educate yourself. You had very little choice in that matter. So how cool was it, I guess in retrospect, to have a mother who was a librarian who really forced you or somehow convinced you to care about reading and about history and literacy and all that good stuff?

Parsons: Yes, well, she didn't force me. I was just surrounded by it. If I went with her to work, I just sat there and checked out 13 books. Can I please take three over the limit? And I'd take a million books out. And that's just what I was around, and so, I was used to that. And she didn't have to force it on me. And kids love that.

And that's another thing that I think here that we try to keep alive. And that's the tradition of storytelling. Alfre gathers a group of kids around, and she asks them questions first, and then she goes into the story. And the story, it's more like a picture book come to life than a cartoon. We didn't wanna do a cartoon, we wanted it to be more like a storybook come to life. And she narrates it, so it feels very much like storytelling.

Tavis: She's now running a company called 'Sweet Blackberry Presents.' Their first piece is "The Journey of Henry Box Brown," told by Alfre Woodard. I suspect there'll be many more to come. Karyn Parsons, nice to have you on the program.

Parsons: Thank you very much. It's really nice to be here.

Tavis: It's good to see you. Thank you. That's my show for tonight. You can catch me on the weekend on PRI, Public Radio International. Check your local listings. See you next time back here on PBS. Until then, good night from L.A. Thanks for watching, and as always, keep the faith.