March 2024

Natalie Griffith is a seven-year-old girl from Jacksonville, Florida. Her mother, Angie Nixon, noticed that her daughter was having self-esteem issues. This is common in children, but what stood out is that many of Natalie’s insecurities surrounded her naturally curly hair. The young, impressionable girl is living in a society that often portrays natural black hair as a flaw. Angie decided to fix this problem by helping her daughter write a book; one that would celebrate her hair. Before writing this comic, Natalie had expressed to her mother that she hated to read. But now, she not only loves to read but is also a skilled writer.

An inspiring message

With the help of her mother, Natalie created the incredible tale entitled Moxie Girl. In the story, Moxie Girl hates her curly hair in the same way Natalie did. Then one day, she discovers a magical shampoo. This shampoo gives her a superpower: it transforms her curly hair into magical afro puffs. Her puffs help her fight crime and illiteracy. She ends up saving the city library from a wild group of book-eating monsters. This book helped Natalie fall in love with her hair. It also encouraged her to read more, since she could not create the story without learning words from other books. Not only did she manage to overcome two of her biggest insecurities in her life, she also turned her flaws into a powerful message.

65cb7e868fc91576cab0457eb7a817ef

source

{adinserter CNP5}

A long journey

Once the story and illustrations were finished, the next step was to get Moxie Girl out there. Natalie and her mother submitted the story to the One Spark Crowdfunding Festival. This is a yearly festival that provides funding for art, education, health, science, music, social development, and technology projects. The odds were against them. This is the second largest crowdfunding festival in their city. There were up against 530 other entries, but they took home the grand prize by three votes. The dynamic duo plans to invest the prize money into the Moxie Girl brand. They will use the prize to print the comic and cover marketing costs. It is due to be published in June 2015.

10866287_1601883536715371_8171838298467846526_o

source

It turned into something even bigger

What began simply as a quest to build her own self-esteem turned into something much more monumental. Natalie decided that she wanted to encourage, uplift, and empower young girls of color. There are many girls with naturally curly hair that may be suffering from the same self-esteem problems that she once went through. Since this book helped her realize how amazing and powerful her hair is, it may help other girls do the same. It is not often that natural hair is encouraged and celebrated like it is in Moxie Girl. If this is what Natalie managed to create as a seven-year-old, the future certainly looks bright for her.

CDOil0_WAAIBQdK

source

SEE ALSO: What These Kids Do Every Day To Go To School Will Melt Your Heart.

Leave a Reply