After 7-year-old Natalie McGriff told her mom, Angela Nixon, that she hated both reading and her natural hair, Nixon decided that something had to be done. The two decided to create “The Adventures of Moxie Girl,” a comic book with a heroine who has magical hair.
“I used to get picked on in school for my natural hair, and I didn’t want that to happen to my daughter,” Nixon told ABC News. “I wanted to step in, boost her self-esteem and foster a love of reading in her.”
Enter Moxie Girl, a young Black superhero who receives a magical shampoo from her godmother. The shampoo gives the young girl the necessary superpowers to save her local library from destruction.
The two entered the comic book in a local festival, where it won first prize in the education category and a $15,000 prize. Natalie is planning on publishing the book this summer, where she hopes to spread her positive hair imagery to young Black girls everywhere.
“We want girls of color to know they’re awesome, that they have moxie and that they’re young queens who should be proud of who they are and who they represent,” Nixon told ABC News. “Love yourselves, love your hair, your skin color. You’re beautiful and awesome.”