Writing POC 101

Black American Characters - @jetsilks

First things first: the stereotypes have got to go.

In most of the books I read both on Wattpad and outside Wattpad, there are little to no black characters. When there are black characters, they're usually the loud and disrespectful characters or the black characters are the ones in the background.

The most common and toxic stereotype I see in shows, books, etc., is that of the "sassy" or "angry" black woman. This character is usually portrayed by a dark skinned black woman who just so happens to not even be essential to the plot of the story and I can't help but think that this character exists just for being a racial punchline.

When there is a black female character who's essential to the plot (and this is a rare occurrence to me, to be quite honest) she has lighter skin; the author makes her complex for whatever reason. Make more complex dark skinned characters, please. But, colorism is another story for another day.

Second things second: from my understanding, family is a pretty significant thing. Are some black parents strict? Indeed. Yes there are a few beatings and scoldings here and there (and I'm pretty sure the same thing can be said for other PoC families) but that's only because they want us to be disciplined and strong or how else are we going to survive in a world that brings us down for being black?

Now don't quote me on this but in black families, our roots are all over. Some families here in the U.S have grandparents from the West Indies, others from South America, and some like my family and me who are from the southern parts of Africa so each culture in each household may differ given the background.

If anything, someone can write what it's like to be in a Haitian black family, or a Nigerian one and so on and so forth.

I'm also pretty sure that the "refer to your parents' best friends as 'aunt,' or, 'uncle,'" thing can be said for every black kid.

Third things third: with religion, I do believe Christianity is the common religion in the community.

Church Sundays (or Saturdays, depending on which branch of Christianity really) are important especially to most grandparents and gospel songs are on another level. With church, everyone's family.

Fourth things fourth: when writing a black character, make us what we are: people.

Make us the fragile and shy character that everyone writes as a petite brunette with glasses. Make us the charismatic and optimistic best friend of the MC that most people write as a regular and mediocre white boy.

Paint your works in black. That's all I ask.

(Color instead of white has always been in anyway.)