Lifestyle

BAME children are starved of their own image so I wrote a book about Black hair


Children are more likely to see an alien, or a talking truck, than themselves in books (Picture credit: Hannah Lee)

My book, MY HAIR was born in an English class I had while in secondary school. I was 16 when I wrote a poem personifying the hair I’d lost to illness as a boyfriend that I was begging to come back to me.

At that point, my hair was growing back in what I can only describe as more than a buzz cut but less than a baby ‘fro.

I recently had a discussion with a friend about the books we were introduced to in Key Stage One (ages 5-7). We remembered Handa’s Suprise and the Grace series, which I’m certain many other Black girls will be familiar with, too.

These are the books we relied on to see even a glimmer of ourselves in but still reflected as ironic, considering they were both written by white women.

That hunger to see yourself never goes away. In fact, it grows and becomes something urgent when you see the next generation of your family coming into the world, which is what happened to me when my nephew Austin was born.

I realised we were more likely to see books centred around animals than books with children that looked like him at the forefront.

This is a shocking fact that was confirmed by recent statistics from the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, which showed white children were 50 per cent more likely to see themselves represented.

For children starved of their image, it can feel so isolating not to see yourself

Also, animals and/or others actually ranked higher on the list than children from African, Asian and Latin backgrounds. To put that into context, children are more likely to see an alien, or a talking truck, than themselves in books.

Little Black girls and boys need to see themselves represented.

Other children need to see Black children represented too, not as secondary characters or best friends relegated to the background, but as protagonists. We need fully fleshed out characters who make their own decisions and take charge of their own stories.

We need to see Black children in all their multi-faceted glory. It simply makes sense.

How can you have a world made up of so many unique, beautiful people and not have books and media to reflect them?

For many Black children, the characters in MY HAIR are their reality. They’ll recognise their uncle religiously brushing his waves into a smooth swirl.

They’ll see their teenage sister and her constant rotation of hairstyles. As well as their school friends – who stride into the playground feeling like stars – because they’ve had a haircut or been to the hairdressers.

MY HAIR has given me the opportunity to be part of so many children’s lives (Picture credit: Hannah Lee)

Most importantly, they’ll also see themselves. Not only surrounded by amazing, intricate hairstyles but also as someone who has the power to choose how they want to showcase themselves through their hair.

To be able to see yourself is your right as a reader, as a consumer of media. We hear all the time how the media can both warp and shape our perception of ourselves.

For children starved of their image, it can feel so isolating not to see yourself.

I remember being a child, picking out which character in a book or TV show was ‘me’ – meaning any Black girl (if there was one) – that I could pretend to be whilst playing. We need to give children stories that reflect them so they can be inspired to grow into all the wonderful characteristics protagonists of picture books exhibit.

Last year, a CLPE study showed that only one per cent of children’s books have a main character that is BAME, despite the fact the Department of Education identified 32 per cent of schoolchildren are from a minority ethnic background.

More publishers need to support authors and illustrators of colour to combat the appalling findings. MY HAIR was published with support from the FAB Prize, which aims to discover and promote their work.

MY HAIR has given me the opportunity to be part of so many children’s lives and positively impact the way they view their hair.

I want it to be the norm for Black children to see themselves reflected in books and other media and I’m absolutely ecstatic my story of celebration can be added to a growing collection of art that represents them.





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