BENGALURU: In “Zaynab’s Enchanted Scarf,” an 14-minute animated short that can be seen on YouTube, children are invited to join 11-year old Zaynab as she travels through time meeting a number of important, but not always well-known, figures from Black and Muslim history.
For example, when Zaynab puts on the titular hijab she has received as a gift, she is transported to the 16th century, where she meets the warrior Queen Amina of North Africa. Later, she travels to Makkah to perform Hajj with Mansa Musa, the emperor of the Mali Empire from 1312 to 1337.
The animation is adapted from a book of the same name, the first in a series of works by American author Robyn Abdusamad — founder of Omera Productions — who, noting the lack of children’s books and media that represented her family’s Muslim African-American identity, decided to create her own.
North Carolina-based Abdusamad is a communications graduate who spent most of her career working in PR for corporate America and non-profit organizations. It was only after having children, she says, “that I noticed the need for more books that had Muslim, as well as African-American, characters that were central to the book.”
Statistics compiled by librarians at the University of Wisconsin and Madison School of Education Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) in 2018 confirmed that need. Their report showed that Western children’s literature continues to either underrepresent ethnic-minority communities, or to represent them poorly. While there had been a 2.4 percent increase in African and African-American representation (10 percent in 2018 from 7.6 percent in 2015, compared to White representation of 50 percent in 2018 and 73.3 percent in 2015) studies demonstrate that the existing literature representing Muslim and/or African-American characters is often of low quality, and that some books contained inaccuracies.
The desire for her children to feel represented pushed Abdusamad to write her first book, 2013’s “Wahid and His Special Friend.” With its simple rhyming format — similar to the Dr. Seuss series — the book is geared towards toddlers.
The following year, Abdusamad’s second book, “You are Beautiful,” was published. “My daughter began wearing the hijab in middle school and one of her classmates called her a terrorist,” she explains. “This incident inspired me to write a book about differences in cultures and learning to love yourself, regardless of race or religion.”
The book is also intended to be an educational resource through which to begin a discussion about humanity and race with children.
With “Zaynab’s Enchanted Scarf,” and 2018’s “Zakkiyah’s Talking Flower Garden” Abdusamad shifted he focus to Black history.
“During Black History month, we hear a lot about Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, but there is so much more to it,” Abdusamad says. “I wanted to share a lesser-known history, as well as give it a Muslim presence. This series is a little bit of both: Zaynab embarking on a journey to Africa, where she learns about prominent kings and queens — including Mansa Musa of Mali, Queen Amina of Nigeria, and Queen Nefertari of Egypt — and their contributions to society.”
She adds that she hopes to introduce some more-recent Muslim figures in upcoming books, and she is currently working on a book about Ramadan and Eid celebrations, set for release later this year.
Abdusamad believes that the kind of edutainment she is producing broadens children’s knowledge beyond the history that is commonly taught in schools, particularly in the West. She has received several comments from parents who say that their children love seeing characters that have the same name as them, or look like them.
“Zaynab’s Enchanted Scarf” has garnered over 93,000 views on YouTube in the past year, and Abdusamad’s other videos are also available to watch on YouTube, kweliTV, and Alchemiya, and are soon to be on streamed on Muslim Kids TV.
However, one of the biggest challenges Abdusamad continues to face is that the media industry is accustomed to a certain look, particularly when it comes to animated films.
“Data shows that there are more animals as central characters in mainstream children’s literature than African-American characters,” she says. “The challenge is that (presenting) an underrepresented population is not the norm.”
