It bugs me that every time Ananda Lewis is mentioned in the news right now, it's just about her being gone, not what she accomplished. I get it, celebrity deaths are a big deal, but Ananda was more than just some MTV face. She really did a lot for TV, pop culture, and even serious conversations around race, violence, and health.

I’ve noticed the media always does this—they focus on the loss instead of celebrating what made the person special in the first place. I think it’s way more important to remember the impact she had: she inspired a ton of young women, especially Black girls, to go for TV jobs or just speak up about their opinions. It shouldn’t take someone dying for people to talk about their work and why it mattered.

If you ask me, we should be sharing old clips of her interviews or those MTV specials where she tackled real issues. That’s the stuff people need to see so her legacy isn’t just about her death. She deserves to be remembered for everything she did, not just as a headline.