Let's give our cocofelons access to African content

What is a better way for your African child to learn about their history and appreciate their identity than giving them access to African-made content online?

We all like that 'African for Africa' mantra, where we are actively playing a part in reclaiming what belongs us from our colonisers, but we keep forgetting that we are going through the struggle so our children can benefit from it.

We are reclaiming what was taken from us and restoring it so our children will carry the legacy.

All this can be achieved if we constantly expose them to African animation, where cartoon characters are black and dressed in colours that embrace the diversity across different cultures.

My niece and nephew know that when they want to watch cartoons, they will definitely get to see content where the characters represent their colour.

You might feel different, dear reader, but letting your child grow up while appreciating who they are, without ever wondering what if they were born differently, makes all the difference.

That young boy and girl will grow up knowing they are as equal to other people, appreciate where they are coming from and getting a chance to safeguard what was restored for them.

They get to learn who they are and what kind of people came before them, as well as why they must and still continue conserving and preserving their culture.

Cultivating that sense of identity should be a proud moment. Our kids need that.

This makes it easy for them to understand themselves without ever having to struggle to find their own roots at a later stage in life.

Primary access to African cartoons and watching story times by African creators can significantly change how a child grows up appreciating who they are and learn in comfortable well-known and familiar environments.

This is also a beautiful way to prove to them that they shouldn’t apologise for they are.

Exposing them to content that is even curated in different languages also reinforces the value of embracing true identity.

My niece is a fan of 'Akili and Me' animation series, but the one that is done in Swahili. She really enjoys that as it is also a quick way for her to learn things that are not only taught in the English language but Kiswahili as well.

Progressively in life, when they do want to learn other foreign languages or learn the history of other people, they can do as they please. But while at it, they have to be comfortable with the idea of who they are.

This kind of teaching at a younger age can have a massive impact as they grow older.

We have been passed down our culture, and even though some bits of it might be buried away, we still have a lot of things we hold on to.

What better way to impact this other than from a tender age?

Let your kid watch African- and even Kenyan-made content. Let them learn that mother tongue language, let them interact the African way.

The world is a global village, yes, but this should not stop an African child from knowing and understanding who they are before getting to learn about other people and their histories.