Nia Long Honors Her Late Dad in a Touching Father's Day Post

Nia Long posted a moving tribute to her father just months after he passed away in January 2020.

This year Father's Day was a bitter-sweet celebration for "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" actress Nia Long, who lost her father in January 2020.

To commemorate Father's Day, and as a special tribute to her beloved father, Long shared one of the last photos they had taken together on Instagram.

Sommore, who has long attributed her comedic talent to her father's love of writing, also shared a message to their departed father

A SAD GOODBYE

Long's father was poet and author Doughtry “Doc” Long, a man passionate about the written word, and a teacher of literature and creative writing. Long acknowledges his influence on her life, and said:

“My father was a master of words (...) a poet with stories to tell about the Black experience in America. He wasn’t afraid to raise his fist in solidarity for everything Black and proud."

Long revealed that at the moment of his death her sisters, comedienne Sommore and Djamila long had also been by his side.

FATHER'S DAY TRIBUTE

On Father's Day, Long shared a black and white photo taken a month before her father's death. Long is smiling sadly, and wearing a dashing cowboy hat, while her father looks understandably frail. Long wrote:

"On this day we shared a big beautiful cry together. A month later he transitioned. I miss my Daddy. Happy Heavenly Father’s Day."

Her older half-sister, Sommore, who has long attributed her comedic talent to her father's love of writing, also shared a message to their departed father. She wrote:

"Cool to the mf end.... Dad your wisdom and guidance is missed. Happy Fathers Day. DOC LONG."

DISTANT SISTERS

Long and Sommore, both famous, and half-siblings have admitted that they are not close. Long's mother and their father divorced when the actress was just two. Her mother moved to Iowa to study art and later to Los Angeles, which meant that the young Long only saw her father a few times a year.

Long is the mother of two sons: Massai Dorsey Jr., 19, whom she shares with actor Massai Z. Dorsey; and Kez Sunday Udoka whom she shares with fiancé basketball player Ime Udoka.

A gifted baseball player, Massai is now in college and seems to bear a striking resemblance to his grandfather. Long will be passing on her father's rich legacy of poetry and storytelling to a new generation.