I Can Still Say Happy New Year, Right??

I'm coming up for air to say hi to my friends and family!

I talk to you guys all of the time.... in my head. My close friends know this already about me. Sometimes I'll have a text only half typed out, not yet sent. Sometimes I feel like I need to say something super cool and wait for that super cool thing to come to me. Meanwhile, super cool things are happening all around me like:

This...

2 year-old beams as he sees himself in Encanto

And this....

3 year-old poses as spider man in viral photo

I love these two photos. They show once again that there is a serious business case and moral imperative for allowing Black children to be at the center of media attention in a positive light. My WHY (why I founded Kidogo Productions) is hereby affirmed (again).

A word about December 2021: I was feeling all the things: excitement, anxiety, pressure, relief. It was a weird month. I felt compelled to plow full-steam ahead and, at the same time, to take a step back and reflect on the progress I made in 2021. I mean, I made a LOT of progress in 2021! In fact, here's a timeline for those of you who are new:

2018 (December): A YouTube search yielded very few results for culturally resonant children’s content for Black children. I complained to whomever would listen.

2019: I convened a small group of friends from Bethel AME in Boston and incorporated Kidogo Productions. We created the animated characters, Fortaya and Melody, and did a lot of work on an animated musical short, “The Wheels on the Bus—A Soulful Rendition.”

2020: Produced “Must Be Time for a Nap,” an animated short of a poem I wrote, and a Spelman Encouragement video featuring Dr. Joyce F. Johnson (a Spelman College legend).

2021 (February): I posted the animated musical short: “The Wheels on the Bus—A Soulful Rendition” to Facebook. The animation was selected by the Indie Night Film Festival for an extended run.