Creator of Super CJ, a New Black Superhero Animated Series, Reveals Beautiful Complexities of Black Boys

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An NAACP flyer campaigning for the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives in 1922, but was filibustered to defeat in the Senate. Dyer, the NAACP, and freedom fighters around the country, like Flossie Baily, struggled for years to get the Dyer and other anti-lynching bills passed, to no avail. Today there is still no U.S. law specifically against lynching. In 2005, eighty of the 100 U.S. Senators voted for a resolution to apologize to victims' families and the country for their failure to outlaw lynching. Courtesy of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

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Claude, age 23, just months before his 1930 murder. Courtesy of Faith Deeter.

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October 31, 2022

Super CJ is a new superhero to inspire Black children

Yaba Baker, Founder and President of Just Like Me World, has launched a new animation studio producing half-hour cartoons and animated movies featuring Black characters as superheroes, princesses, and action heroes based on their popular books Super CJ and Princess Briana.

How many decades have Black parents complained that there aren’t enough cartoons or animated movies that feature Black characters for their children? Well, Black parents do not have to worry about this any longer.

Baker, who created the Super CJ and Princess Briana characters, comments, “We are taking the concepts of authentic representation, Pixar-like storytelling, and social-emotional tools that we have in our books and bringing those same concepts to life in our new animated projects. Our first animated episode will premiere on our Just Like Me TV YouTube channel in early 2023 is Super CJ.”

Just Like Me World decided to turn their books into animated content based on the rave reviews about Super CJ and Princess Briana. A Publishers Weekly reviewer said this about Super CJ, “Baker deftly delivers the overarching message—that anger fuels poor choices— without sounding preachy, a balance that children will appreciate. The snappy dialogue will tickle the funny bones of both adults and kids, especially the chatter between dog and boy.” (A Publishers Weekly review is the most highly regarded review in the publishing industry.)

Read more about this project.

Earlier this year, rapper Ludacris announced a similar project for Black girls.

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