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Harbourfront Centre’s KUUMBA, presented by TD Bank Group through the TD Ready Commitment, is Toronto’s largest and longest-running Black Futures Month festival, embracing the rich tapestry of culture, diversity and creativity through a month-long celebration of Black cultural programming. Running from February 1–29, 2024

The story is set in the French Quarter of New Orleans.  The prince and the princess are cosmically drawn to each other despite the fact that he is a frog, and she is human.  What happens next?  Your guess is as good as mine, but I sure hope it ends with a happily ever after.  Some of the cast members of The Princess and the Frog include Anika Noni Rose (Princess Tiana), Jennifer Lewis (Mama Odie, The Fairy Godmother), Terrence Howard (James, Tiana’s father) and Oprah Winfrey (Eudora, Tiana’s mother). The best part about this princess is she rocks a fro.

Ok, not a total afro, but she is a fellow curly girl. I told you all that afro-textured is making a comeback!

My belief and hope is that illustrating a Black female as a princess will aid in instilling healthy self-esteem in young Black girls and educating all Black females about self-acceptance.  I hope that doesn’t sound too revolutionary, but many of us started chemically straightening our hair because that was our idea of beauty.  I’m optimistic that this movie will contribute to including kinky/curly-haired individuals in the universal standard of beauty.

I also think that young and old Black lads alike can benefit from a new visual of what a classically beautiful, natural sister looks like.   I think this is a great story to ‘urbanize’ as there is something that both sisters and brothers can take from it.  So many Black women complain about the quality of men out there, but this movie may give something to consider.  The underlying message of this story, in part, is to look past someone’s exterior and let the beauty of their soul shine through.

So, I urge all my single ladies – as my homegirl would say – to go out and ‘start kissing frogs.’  And by kissing frogs, I mean getting to know someone who does not instantly meet all the criteria on your wish list (you know we all have one).  Who knows, one of these ‘frogs’ might just be your Prince Charming.

Wow, I’m sure Walt’s predecessors had no clue this film would hit such a political cord.

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