Some celebrity deaths hit the Black community differently.

Such is the case with the passing of Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who died Sunday at age 54 in a drowning accident in Costa Rica, where he was on vacation with his family.

Much like the unexpected deaths of Prince, Kobe Bryant and actor Chadwick Boseman, Warner’s death is being met in much of the Black community by the type of deep grieving usually reserved for family members.

And it feels completely appropriate.

Almost from the beginning, the world seemed to know that Warner was special.