Karen Malina White is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her roles as Kaneesha Carter in the 1989 drama film Lean on Me, Charmaine Brown during the two final seasons on The Cosby Show (1990–1992) and its spin-off A Different World (1992–1993), Nicolette Vandross on Malcolm & Eddie (1996–2000), and as the voice of Dijonay Jones on the Disney Channel animated comedy The Proud Family (2001–2005) and its 2022 Disney+ reboot The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder.

Lean on Me is a 1989 American biographical drama film directed by John G. Avildsen, written by Michael Schiffer, and starring Morgan Freeman. It is based on the story of Joe Louis Clark, a real life inner city high school principal in Paterson, New Jersey, whose school is in danger of being placed into receivership of the New Jersey state government unless students improve their test scores on the New Jersey Minimum Basic Skills Test. This film's title refers to the 1972 Bill Withers song of the same name, which is used in the film.