What’s next for Crown the Writer? How are you looking to expand and move forward? Black Girl, Black Girl . I’m hoping to have it out in November, but it’s still being illustrated. We’re at the final phases of illustration. And before that can be published, Crown has to be published [Crown refers to the superhero character in the comic Crown Universe ]. Black Girl, Black Girl is going to be just as amazing as Black Boy, Black Boy , no doubt. But tell me about Crown.
It’s your typical superhero story. Right now, the first issue is being illustrated and it’s her origin story. I wrote Crown because I wanted a Black, female superhero. We don’t have that, where from the get-go, that’s who she is. She didn’t take over like Ironheart or anything like that. This is her story, her power, and it is about a Black girl whose superpower is her hair. For centuries, Black hair has been under attack – and it still is to this day. That’s where the relaxer came from. That’s where the straightening flat irons came from, and the hot combs. Black people put their hair through so much damage to fit into white standards. I have dreads, and some places consider that unprofessional, for me to have dreads and just Black hair in general, you know. My mom was a beautician, so my hair was always natural. I did go through that relaxer stage of life that all Black girls go through.
And that’s what Crown is about. Her origin story is about that crucial life experience every Black girl, for the most part, goes through. If you were raised in a Black home, you had a relaxer at some point. You burned your hair off at some point or went bald at some point. I wanted to change that game, especially for my nieces. I want them to love their natural hair. I want to remind women and show little girls how powerful Black hair can be. So it’s a story about a Black girl whose superpower is her hair. And when I say her hair, I mean every hairstyle you can think of that Black hair can hold – which is a lot, so she’s pretty invincible. She has a limitless arsenal at her disposal, with Black characters rooted in a very Black-centric storyline, and they fight white supremacy. So, I mean, there’s nothing better than that.
To read more, visit RacismUnveiled.org.
Photos courtesy of Crown Shepherd.
This story is part of the Racism Unveiled digital storytelling project with generous funding from the Otto Bremer Trust, HealthPartners and the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation.
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