I had thought to start this list a few times, but could never really pin down what I wanted to do or how I wanted to do it. I've spent years trawling through search engines trying to find characters that looked like me, shared the same experiences as me, and lived in worlds that are quite fantastical. More often than not, my search would come up woefully short.
The short film, "A Girl Like Me," illustrates how the skewed images of black women in the media affect our children. In "A Girl Like Me," the little girl (quite like me) who silently pushed the black doll forward will always be in the back of my mind when I see images of women of color.
In that vein I hope this will become a list of a wide array of characters from all sorts of fantastical stories. At times, I will write about things like portrayals, stereotypes, and colorism. Though more to the point this will be a place that celebrates the fantasy heroine of color no matter where she may be found and in what part she has been placed in.
Over the years I have built up a list of characters that continues to grow. From video games, to children's books, movies, novels, and comics I sought out the dark-skinned women hidden in the wings, waiting for their chance to shine in the spotlight. There will be familiar faces like Anamaria from Pirates of the Caribbean and Nyasha from Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters. But there will also be unfamiliar faces and stories that will hopefully inspire the next round of heroines in the genre.
The dream is the truth for women and girls of color. I hope to share that truth here.
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