While dreaming of a white Christmas is common during this time of year, there are plenty of parents bouncing from mall to mall dreaming of something else entirely: a Black Santa.
Thankfully, psychiatrist Jihan Woods and her appropriately titled Find Black Santa app are here to help.
“I really wanted my children to see a Santa Claus that looks like them,” she wrote on the app’s website. “It’s important to me that they experience diversity in all aspects of their lives, Santa included.”
And she’s right.
As CBS News notes, studies show that fewer symptoms of depression and behavioral problems occur in youth of color who experience more positive perceptions of their ethnicity or race. So while your boss might love to throw around buzzwords like “inclusion” and “diversity,” the existence of both have very real consequences—especially for children. And after struggling for years to find a relatable Santa Claus for her twins, Woods got to work.
On Oct. 9, 2018, she launched a Kickstarter campaign and successfully raised over $5,000 to fund her dream, which will bring plenty of joy to black families throughout the country.
“Each year, I searched everywhere to find a Black Santa for my boys and had no luck,” Woods wrote on her campaign site. “Why do I care so much about finding Black Santa? Because representation matters.”
Thus far, the free app is getting rave reviews and lists the locations of Santas that know how to properly season their chicken in more than 35 states.
And to the miserable individuals spewing that nonsense about Santa not being black, ummm…Santa isn’t white either.
The Find Black Santa app is available for both iPhone and Android.