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Cynique, it is certainly a battle for us. Why can't we be beautiful and black in superhero roles, princesses of the deep, wizards and good witches, etc.? I am so tired of this. I want our children to see themselves as beautiful, strong, and powerful... We want to save the world sometimes too! Well, despite the fight, Black Oz is here along with other victories. My dreams are to see my dark-skinned mermaid trio on the big screen. I want them to reintroduce our non-swimming babies to the joys of not only reading, but swimming as well. That's another subject of contention. Some in society still don't want us in swimming pools--Olympic swimming pools, that is. That's another reason why I choose powerful dark-skinned swimmers to save Merland. Thanks CDBurns. You are the third professional person who have told me how nice my website is. I so appreciate you sharing it. It was hard work to get it where it is currently. I have many visitors, but not many to actually make a purchase. I think it may do better in the Spring and Summer. I am researching advertising under Children's Books on Mermaids and Mermaid Art on Google. Now that you've seen the website, what you do think about this type of advertising? I want my books in schools, libraries, and in the hands of all children--especially our Brown and Black children who struggle with literacy.

Just a side note, you have a beautiful website. Very clear and straightforward. I'm sharing it on my social accounts.

Your mermaid odyssey brings to mind a growing trend that has stirred controversy on social media, Shirley. It started with the negative reaction to the idea of casting black actor, Idris Elba, as the next James Bond. About the same time, protests emanated from the nerdy comic book community over the changing from white to black the race of Johnny Storm one of the original superheroes in The Fantastic Four movie. Close on the heels of this was a lack of enthusiasm among a segment of Star War devotees over the hero in its newest incarnation being played by a black actor. The latest buzz is how nonplussed Harry Potter fans are about a major stage production based on this series selecting a black actress to play the popular Hermione character.. . Also along these lines is how the remade black version of the popular film "Annie" drew white criticism as did the all-black "Oz", a holiday TV special based on the Wizard of Oz, its critics clueless about this musical having once been a Broadway hit and later a movie starring Michael Jackson.There have also been rumblings about bi-racial Zoe Saldana playing dark-skinned Nina Simone in a movie coming out about Simone's life. Traditionalists obviously have a problem when their favorites are tampered with and racial undertones frequently figure into their resistance to change. I am looking forward to seeing how you fared in your endeavor to be color-blind.

This all started after my husband’s beloved mother died mid-September 2013. His niece graciously arranged for us to stay in a three story condo in Cape Charles, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The condo was wonderfully decorated to represent an oceanic theme—huge seashells, pictured images of magnificent sea creatures, and sea ornaments, purposefully arranged to reflect life in the nearby Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. However, with all the wonderful décor, there was one piece in particular that captured my attention. It was a framed painting of a mermaid displayed in the master bedroom, titled Metamorphosis by Sheila Wolk. Her beauty captivated me to the point where I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. A few days following the funeral, we returned home to Louisiana. I desperately missed the ocean beauty that had mesmerized me. I had to have this mermaid poster. When I found her online, I purchased two of them—I wanted my brother in SC to share in my discovery. I was surprised by his reaction when he received my gift. He expressed how beautiful she was, but toward the end of our discussion on where we would display her, he said, “I wish she was black.” I agreed with him—in my heart and soul, I wanted to see what she would look like with a brown complexion. For days I wondered why something of such extraordinary beauty could not possess our dark skin color and still maintain her perfection. My thoughts made me feel guilty. Surely, I was not a racist for wanting to see this image in darker skin. The mermaid was beautiful just as she was, why then should I want to see her any differently? As the days passed, I contemplated having her framed and mounted on my wall. But this would prove to be very expensive as the print was 266” x 375” which also left the question of where I would place such a large piece in my home that boasted African-American historical art throughout. A huge painting of The Buffalo Soldiers’ March on Fort Sumter was displayed over the fireplace, The Civil Rights icon, Rosa Parks was displayed on an adjacent corner wall, and other smaller figurines representative of African-American culture were displayed throughout my home. To my regret, I could not hang this beautiful sea creature up without disrupting my historical theme. I had to put her away until I could figure out how to incorporate her display. Meanwhile, I could not stop thinking about mermaids—in particular, Black mermaids. I recall that I had never really seen a black mermaid in literature. I decided to do a search on Google ™ and low and behold, there they were—lots of beautiful images. However, when I searched local libraries and bookstores, I discovered very few, if any, in children’s or adult literature—that is very few Black mermaids. During the summer break of 2014, I decided to try my hand at painting. I wanted to paint my own version of the beautiful mermaid that had captured my heart on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. She was perfectly fine as I drew her void of color onto paper. The problem for me started when I applied brown paint to her face. I absolutely hated it. She was ugly to me and completely destroyed what I’d perceived for a beautiful brown-skinned sea creature. I decided as a compromise to make her white and faceless with an orange outline. I was so disappointed in myself. Why couldn’t I paint a black mermaid and see the beauty in her? Despite my obvious conflict with diversity, I finally embraced my painted "white" rendition My reasoning being, she was abstract and could represent any and every one of us—Black, Brown, or White. For me, she represented acceptance—my warped acceptance. Now, there was one little feature that I had subconsciously added. My abstract image of “mermaid acceptance” had curly, short hair at first. Then she evolved into having long, golden, straight hair, and then in her final evolution, she ended up with long, wavy, wet hair that cascaded down her back. The little bit of my image that I had allowed came in terms of her thick, wavy, golden-brown hair. I still had more work to do. One abstract mermaid in a vast ocean environment wasn’t nearly enough. I needed more to integrate our mighty Atlantic ocean. I decided to make a template of her and reproduced two more mermaids to her exact specifications. The triplets all had white, feature-less faces with varying degrees of curly hair. While I was disappointed in myself for not creating them to be Black, I readily accepted my compromise and decided to have my three nameless, faceless, beauties framed as an original work of art (artwork included in my book). My framers loved them and favored me by showing off my mermaids and introducing me as an artist--me, an artist. I brought my work of art home and proudly mounted my faceless, white mermaids onto my wall. My son also loved my work and applauded it to be as good as any professional could produce. He often stared at the three mermaids in wonder, just as I did during my days of summer bliss. What were they thinking? How did they fit into their ocean environment? Were they even supposed to be there in all their faceless, nameless, glory? While I loved my creation, I knew deep in my heart that they weren’t complete. One night in the wee hours of the morning, I got up out of bed and went to the wall where the three mermaids were displayed. They needed to talk to me—but they had no voice, no facial expressions. Even I, their creator, could not connect to their blank white faces. I knew at that exact moment I had to name them. I had to write about them. I had to give them some of my own identity before I could bring them to life. – Continued in Part Two Support diversity in Children’s Literature. Please visit my website, www.readtoachieve2.com to purchase The Hunt for the Magic Pearl today. http://www.amazon.com/Hunt-Magic-Pearl-Shirley-Perry-Church/dp/1480814814 Seek Preview with the image of the three faceless mermaid sisters.

Continued from Part One In order to give life and purpose to the three faceless mermaids that hang on my wall, I had to first give them names. Shimmer, StarFire, and SeaStar came to life in my literary vision. I could see them at long last and they were beautiful, brown-skinned,orphaned, mermaid sisters. They reached out to me every time I passed their stilled images on the wall. I had to tell their story. The voice that continually awakened me up in the middle of the night, beckoned me to write a book. Always three and four o’clock in the morning, I could be found in my dimly lit bedroom frantically writing. The question that plagued my thoughts was this: What were my mermaids doing out there in the vastness of the mighty ocean? Of course, they were hunting. But, hunting for what? Well, in my mind, since they weren’t supposed to be there in the first place, they were hunting for magic. Why magic? Because, magic had to be found in order to protect them. Protect them from what? They needed protection from predators. What kind of predators? The Great White Sharks, of course. So, where would this magic come from? And why would they need protection? So many questions popped into my mind. I often looked into the vastness of their blank faces for the answers. Now, that I had the beginning of the plot for my fantasy, I still needed to see the three mermaids on the pages of the book that I’d titled The Hunt for the Magic Pearl. With pencils and paint brushes in hand, I set out to give my half human, half fish their faces—beautiful brown faces. However, each time, I contemplated making them African-American, something inside of me cautioned against it. I had to keep telling myself that I wasn’t doing anything wrong. Why shouldn’t they look like me in skin color, hair texture, and body build--strong hips and thighs? Why at my age and cultural experience was I having trouble with my own skin color and reflection? Could I, me, still be subconsciously brainwashed in some way--influenced by a horrible history that should be relived only in my past? I know that I loved me and I also knew that I wouldn't change one single thing about who I am--especially my skin color... My struggle served to let me know what our children are still experiencing in terms of acceptance of their African-American features and identity. This realization also warned me that there is not nearly enough diversity in our children's literature. I was in a battle to resist my warped concept of beauty. Despite my unfounded reluctance, I did it. I drew samples and painted them to have brown skin. But I still did not like these images as much as I liked them with White skin. I forced myself to move ahead with illustrations and had my illustrator to produce exactly what I was visualizing. My three mermaid sisters came to life at long last on the pages of my book. They are beautiful renditions of myself. I am pleasantly pleased that they are very much a part of the audience that I seek to reach and teach. I am still drawing and painting my mermaids--turning them from blank, penciled images on white sheets of paper to strong, dark, powerful princesses that protect the Kingdom of Merland. Please see Part Three for the conclusion of this story. Part Three: Diversity is Not Racism—The Difficult Road through Publication for Three Mermaid Sisters “Why didn’t you make the mermaids White?” he said. “You would sell more books if they were white.” These words still echo in my head. Support diversity in Children’s Literature. Please visit my website, www.readtoachieve2.com to purchase The Hunt for the Magic Pearl today.

SINGER NATALIE COLE DIED, MY FAVORITE SONG OF HERS IS I GOT LOVE ON MY MIND.ANOTHER ONE OF GLADYS KNIGHTS PIPS DIED,WILLIAM GUEST, GLADYS NIGHT BROTHER IS THE ONLY PIP LEFT..A NEW MOVIE THE PEOPLE VERSUS O J SIMPSON WILL BE SHOWN NEXT MONTH. ACTOR CUBA GOODING IS O J SIMPSON, ACTOR COURTNEY VANCE I THINK IS THE LATE GREAT JOHNNIE COCHRAN.,. I WONDER WILL THEY HAVE ACTORS PORTRAYING THE RACIST WHITE LOS ANGELES POLICE.....WHITE AMERICAN STILL HATE THE VERDICT/////

Sara, you are one angry person. I guess you feel like you are winning the internet today. I can't imagine that you are really a person who marched or did anything in support of anyone but yourself. Unfortunately, we will never know who or what you have done, because your sole intent appears to be discontent. I guess you come from the Jesus with the skull of an ass, swinging on people in the tabernacle school of Christianity. Your pen is filled with venom and it slices with the viciousness of a pregnant pit bull defending an imaginary pup. I am beginning to think that you are a troll. Someone solely here to target anything to get a response. Reading your words almost makes me feel sorry for you because somewhere inside of you something is broken, or maybe nothing is broken at all and you are defensive because of your experiences and you've earned the right to be... but unlike Cynique who willingly listed her participation in the movement as a writer who didn't encounter the physical brutality of the CR movement, she definitely encountered the mental brutality in dealing with the responses to her columns. She also has a picture up and has stated where she grew up. She is not hiding behind an avatar. People fight against intolerance in many ways. I admire the writer as well as the front line soldier, but you are like many of the people I served with... you seem to have some PTSD. Brothers who are good dudes(I didn't serve with women), but are always ready to battle even when the threat is only in their heads. So I am in agreement with Nelson that I should apologize to you because you are dealing with demons that have turned you into something that attacks and in your mind you're justified in your attacks and there is nothing wrong with what you say. It's just like the internet trolls who float around websites ready to tear down people at a moment's notice. If you aren't tearing down, you are in defense mode and what I thought was satire and dark humor from you really isn't. It's a dark edge that is the prodding of a bully, or the poking of an abuser. It's the first time I've seen this on a Black platform of debate based on solid intellectual thought and delivery. Because I do feel that there is something not quite right here in your dialogue I really am apologizing because battling/debating someone who I think has some issues that appear like PTSD to me is no laughing matter and it definitely isn't something to take lightly.