Representation Matters With New ‘Little Mermaid’

Hans Christian Andersen’s story resonates with another generation. Plus, these novels with mermaid themes make great beach reads for the long weekend. View this email in your browser The Little Mermaid is in theaters and in books during #Mermay 🪸 Cue hot mermaid summer with classic fairy tale returning as live-action Disney remake With The Little Mermaid debuting this weekend, you know the obsession over merfolks will dominate the culture for the rest of the year, right? Like most toddler girls, I was enthralled with Disney’s 1989 animated version of The Little Mermaid, the most famous fairy tale written by Hans Christian Andersen. Growing up in the coastal neighborhood of Rogers Park in Chicago, I imagined myself as a mermaid far too many times with beaches in walking distance. But as much as I wanted to be Ariel, she didn’t look like me. She had long ketchup-red hair and over-animated blue eyes, and while under the sea she was just a mermaid, on land she was a young White woman. This led to my parents looking high and low for Black mermaids. The search was fruitful with Sukey and the Mermaid. The 1992 book featured the first time I saw […]