Author with a purpose

Author Carlotta Penn was tired of the lack of diversity in children’s TV programming — so she created her own cartoon.

She noticed the disparity while searching for shows for her daughter, Jember, 3, and son, Zemen, 2.

“It’s just so ridiculous,” said Penn, 39, who lives in the Old Oaks neighborhood with her children and husband, Haile Shiferaw. “All of that content is white-centric. Even anthropomorphic characters. … Like, can you just make some of the people brown?”

Penn will debut her animated short, “The Turtle With an Afro,” on Saturday at the Columbus Museum of Art’s virtual Community Book Club event, which will include an interactive discussion. The two-minute film is based on Penn’s 2019 self-published children’s book of the same name that celebrates the versatility of Black hair. It also will be available on YouTube.

At the beginning of the story, the turtle is frustrated that her “springy, sprightly curls” will not stay in place. But by the end of the book, she learns to accept the unpredictable nature of her “crown” or afro.

It’s a story that is meant to strike a chord with Black women and girls — including Penn and her daughter — who wear their hair in a “natural” state, unaltered by chemical products.

“My afro’s not going to look the same every day,” Penn said. “It’s a conversation within that space of natural hair, that those are some of the struggles that we have. … Can you still walk out the door confident when you might have to pin it a certain way, or your curls might be going wherever at a particular time?”

The complexity of Black hair extends beyond maintenance. Depending on how it is styled, it can viewed as a symbol of Black pride — whether the person has that intention or not — or it can be used as a tool for discrimination. For example, it is still legal in some places to refuse to hire someone for wearing their hair in locs.

Additionally, there are still perceptions of “good” and “bad” hair — within the Black community and outside — due to the pervasiveness of European standards of beauty. It’s a reality that is top of mind for Penn, who said her daughter is showing a preference for white dolls even though Black culture is celebrated in their household.

There’s also a feeling of being “othered,” through questions about hair or even compliments. Penn, who spearheads diversity and inclusion efforts at Ohio State University, has had that experience when she wears her hair out at work.

“People want to talk about it too much,” she said. “I’m just like, ‘Let me just put it in a ponytail so I can just work.’ … It’s just my natural hair. Yes, it’s a big afro, but I’m not doing anything special or trying to show up in a special kind of way.”

For the book version of “The Turtle With an Afro,” it was important for Penn to hire a Black illustrator, Audy Popoola. Popoola added valuable commentary on how Black hair is presented, Penn said, including the idea to switch the turtle’s hair from “Shirley Temple” curls to a “rich, kinky texture.”

“We really had to be thoughtful of that,” Penn said. “There are issues with glorifying wavy curls and ringlets as opposed to hair that needs more care.”

Penn’s friend, Debbie Rigaud, who writes young adult fiction, said “The Turtle With an Afro” is affirming for Black girls.

“I have a little girl, and it’s something that I love to show her,” said Rigaud of Gahanna.

“I love dance and rhythm and joy, and I see a lot of that in the book,” Rigaud said. “In the wording she uses, there’s echoes of rock ’n’ roll to hip-hop to pop music and the Black musical tradition. There’s also the energy and rhythm in the curls and coils of the hair, which is so fun.”

That component is especially apparent in the short film, animated by Pedro Fequiere and Claudia Jackson. It is narrated by Penn, who also is a poet.

This is actually the second book for Penn, who has a doctorate in education. She was inspired to write “Dream a Rainbow” in 2017 about her “rainbow baby,” Jember, who was born after a miscarriage.

“The Turtle With an Afro” was based on an idea that Penn’s late father came up with when she was younger.

Both books were published through Penn’s company, Daydreamers Press.

“Part of the reason I haven’t gone the route of traditional publishing is that I don’t want to be stopped by the gatekeepers,” she said. “[It] can be frustrating because I would love to have a bigger platform.”

Penn plans to create a “Turtle With an Afro” series, produce more animated content, and work on a book about the Ethiopian alphabet, inspired by her husband, who is from the country.

“(Our children) have Ethiopian culture, but they’re not going to see that represented in books unless I create them,” she said. ethompson@dispatch.com

@miss_ethompson