Sharing Black Stories Through Animation

It is important to note that throughout time the underrepresented have been diminished in the media. The Black diaspora around the world has varying cultures that all have rich stories waiting to be told. Through the medium of animation, this has led to great series such as Bruce Wayne Smith’s: The Proud Family, Dwayne McDuffie’s: Static Shock, and Bill Cosby’s: Fat Albert.

With these pioneering series expressing the entirety of the black experience, it has allowed other stories to be told within the diaspora. Early black animation has allowed movies and short films such as Spiderman: into the Spider-Verse, debuting a black-Hispanic lead intertwining the experiences of the intersectional identity and short-films such as Vudu Dolls, to show the connection that Creole black people have with their practices in voodooism.

It is to be noted that early black animation provided a path of attention to the experiences outside of the general Hollywood depiction of Black people. Redefining the black image in media is necessary because ideologies surrounding black culture found in stereotypes and caricatures have left a distasteful impact on black representation prior to the 21st Century . Acknowledgements are far past due for the medium as the majority of our culture has been created in our reclamation of our societal power in media. With the medium of animation, the complexity that is black culture can finally be shown in its truest and finest form.