I have created a Goddess I have named Malacumba. She is a Black goddess who is an albino*. Her hair consists of long dreadlocks* reminiscent of Medusa.*

My first drawings of her were problematic. I didn’t want to draw a full face. I only wanted a suggestion of a face. I realized that without the wide nose and full lips she would be mistaken for a White goddess.

In one drawing I experimented by showing her full lips and almond shaped eyes. I put extra emphasis on the hair. Notice in this piece that she has no nose. I draped her in the symbols of Kwanzaa but she is not dressed in these all the time.

Since there aren’t many people drawing Black albino cartoons and illustrations I am treading in unknown territory. The usual clues in defining a Black character are the skin color, the hair style and/or the facial features. Malacumba’s clues have to be different.

So, I am stuck with this artistic problem. How is my Malacumba to be depicted? I see her in many adventures and quests. Perhaps I will have to deal with the inevitable misunderstanding of who she is. Perhaps in time, as I show her to the public more and more those who follow her adventures will get her. Perhaps like me and many of my pan-African albino friends, I will have to explain her over and over again.

notes:

*The word “albino” is upsetting to some people with albinism. The politically correct way to describe any human is to use “people first” phrases such as “person in a wheelchair” or “person who is blind.” However: many blind people call themselves blind people, and many albinos call themselves albinos.

*People have told me that the word “dreadlock” is incorrect for historical and political reasons. However: the words locks, locs, dreads or dreadlocks  have become commonplace and are used interchangeably.

*The Medusa is said to have been invented by the Greeks or Romans who saw Amazon women warriors for the first time. They were perplexed by these fearless powerful women and their African dreadlocks. Supposedly the men ran back to their country telling tales of fearsome women with snakes in their hair, who could freeze a man by just looking at him. Thus the story of the Medusa found its way into mythology.