Black History Month: My Favourite Black Characters

I am so excited to write this post! 

February is my favourite month of the year, not only is it my birthday month but it is also Black History Month! At my high school, we celebrated Heritage Day on the last Friday in February when we would dress up in clothing showing your heritage no matter where your family is from. My friends and I had a fantastic time taking pictures, watching the concert and the best-dressed competition.

Now I am at university (and corona) I miss this so much but I thought I would celebrate on the blog. I am here today to let you know who my favourite black characters are from books, tv shows and movies. Is this just an excuse to talk more about my favourite books, tv shows and movies? Maybe… I hope you enjoy it! 

It is also important to recognize the struggle that many black people have been going through for generations and this does not limit to America. Racism exists everywhere even in countries predominately black like Barbados. So when you think of the protests and the Black Lives Matter movement do not just condemn America but think about any microaggressions and racism that exist in your respective society and do your best to speak about it!

• Hazel Levesque from Heroes of Olympus – Of course, I had to include one of the characters from Heroes of Olympus. Hazel is one of the first black female main characters that I read about in a popular fantasy book. This stuck with me when I was younger. She is so powerful even though she is only 13/14. I also think she is very underestimated for a child of the big three. 

• Natasha Kingsley from The Sun is Also a Star – This book is one of my favourite contemporary books. If you are looking for a lover at first sight type YA contemporary book filled with diversity, you need to read it immediately. Natasha is such a fantastic character. She was born in Jamaica and then moves to America when she is young. She is the first character from the Caribbean in a popular novel (you will soon realize I put myself in most of these characters 😅). We see her determination when she fights for her family to stay in America when they are going to be deported. Even when her entire family gives up, she never loses hope. 

• Starr Carter from The Hate U Give – THUG is also one of my favourite YA novels of all time. If you have not read it and you are looking for a book about the Black struggle and police brutality READ IT!!! Starr never backed down for what she believed was right. She experienced more struggles in her 16 years than most people deal with in a lifetime. I also related to her struggles of going to a predominately white school being black. 

• Jack from Opposite of Always – Jack was my fictional crush of 2020. Sometimes, he would do some questionable things and I would be like… are you good? But his caring personality made up for it. He stood by his friends to the end and his relationship with Kate was 😍. His development throughout the book was great!

• Tabitha Foster from Trinkets – Trinkets is my show!! I am kinda mad that I watched the show before I read the book (I know I’m a bad bookworm) but I love this show. Trinkets is about three girls who are addicted to stealing and how it affects their lives. Tabitha Foster seems like the typical queen bee of the school at first but she is so much more. She deals with abuse and sexual harassment and is an overall amazing person who can overcome anything. 

• Andre from Victorious – Victorious is about a school where people practice the arts such as visual arts, music and acting. Andre was one of, if not the most talented character from this show. Song 4 u and Count on Me are enough evidence. No matter what, Andre was always ready to help or defend his friends. The world did not deserve him or his songs. 

• Judge Lola Carimicheal from All Rise – My mom and I love this show and we love Lola. All Rise is about a black judge in the legal system and how she deals with discrimination and stereotypes. Lola always fights for what is right. The other Lawyers and Judges give her a bad rep because she is not tough on crime and believes in rehabilitation. She never backs down and always admits when she is wrong. 

• Antoine “Trip” Triplett from Agents of Shield – Agents of Shield is my favourite show, hands down. AoS depicts behind the scenes of the Avengers movies and how regular shield agents do to fight off the evils of the world. Tripp was marvelous he knew how to fight, he was kind and good looking! 

• Sam Wilson/ Falcon from the Marvel Cinema Universe (MCU) – Sam is my favourite Avenger, superhero and just favourite character of all time. He is so funny and his relationship with Bucky and cap is the best. He will always be there to help them out. Even in real life, Anthony Mackie is one of my favourite actors. If you watch the MCU, please watch some of his interviews with Sebastian Stan they are hilarious. Also “on your left” is very iconic and lives in my mind rent-free. 

• Miles Morales from Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse – First of all, can we appreciate the masterpiece that is this movie? Everything about this movie was magnificent including the character Miles Morales. He was always willing to fight for what he believes in and for his city. 

• T’Challa/ Black Panther from the MCU – Rest in Peace to Chadwick Bozeman. He was an amazing actor and he was gone too soon. I remember going to see this movie with my friends and it was one of my favourite memories. At the time, Black Panther was the catalyst for black superheroes. 

• John Ambrose Clarin from To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before 2 – I may be a bit bias because I love Jordan Fisher but I loved John Ambrose in the books before I knew that Jordan would be playing. There is nothing you can say that will make me hate this man. He can do no wrong. He was the perfect gentlemen: friendly, charming, just 🥰. The third movie will be coming out in a few days and I can not wait! 

Honourable Mentions 

(there are so many more characters to talk about but so little time) 

• George Jefferson from The Jeffersons– he was hilarious
• Valkyrie from Thor: Ragnorok – she was the bomb 
• Shuri from Black Panther – a queen and a genius 
• Raven Baxter from That’s So Raven – this show was iconic and it used to tackle some serious topics
• Erica Sinclair from Stranger Things– she stole the show in season 3 
• Chidi Anagonye from The Good Place – a black character as the moral compass and also just so loyal to his friends 
• Duke and Marva from the Voting Booth – Amazing book
• Princess Tiana – I loved her as a child, I even had a Tiana themed party
• Madeline Whittier from Everything Everything – she was a book lover too so I can appreciate that

Thank you so much for reading this post! If you made it this far in my rant I appreciate you! 

Remember to stay educated and please check out any of these books, movies and tv shows I mentioned. Also, do not just consume media with black characters during February but try to continually consume POC media throughout the year. This goes for any POC media!

Have you watched any of these books, tv shows or movies? Who are some of your favourite characters?

Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash