How to Create an Inclusive Party for Your Child Regardless of Color, Disability, or Religion

BY MARCUS HART | JANUARY 31, 2020

Is it that time of year and your child is old enough to actually enjoy his or her birthday and you want to make it very memorable? Did you experience a sense of discomfort or disbelief when you were picking out the party supplies last time or perhaps this time and none of the characters depicted best represented how special or unique your child was or looked on the outside? Are you burning within you and want to just refuse to settle for this year after year of constant programming? Your child's hair is curly and short. How can you explain to her that the characters have long straight hair and she doesn't?

This article provides some solutions to that problem head-on. Classic cartoons have long created a culture that has shown no remorse for the differences among us. It is evident in the marketing of its products. Saturday morning cartoons watched by the Baby Boomers such as those produced largely by Warner Bros had a remarkable amount of apathy and lack of substance. (Holmquist, 2017) The steamboat hasn't slowed down for proper inclusion and respect of race, disabled individuals, those with different physical features such as hair, eye, or skin pigmentation and colorations, etc.

Sherrell Brown founder of Just Like Mee! has experienced her own fair share of being excluded out of what she thought was a friendly and supportive environment that respected her personal life outside of work when she was fired for posting on her Facebook page her public support for the Black Lives Matter movement. This was very similar to nine others who were shamed and received countless hate during the Dallas shootings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling and the demonstrations that followed. (Ali, 2016) Brown was ignited to create Just Like Mee! to demonstrate just how important inclusion is in our society and to give a unique solution for giving your child a party.

GoAnimate is one of six great sites that allow you to create your own animations. (Kessler, 2010) This is an example of inclusion for all kids or adults to picture themselves with superhuman traits or cartoon-like features depicted in the movies and on TV without feeling left out. Marvel with movie box office hits like the Black Panther and Captain Marvel has made great efforts to include all sorts of characters with different background stories to bring more connection to their audience.

Just Like Mee! goes a little further and here's how:

• Just Like Mee! offers a wide scope of never seen kid’s party themes ranging from a Black Mermaids, Asian Princess to the curly-headed mixed boy. Every type of children’s party theme character will always be found at Just Like Mee!
• You can customize and personalize your birthday party by “Cartoonizing You.” Just upload your photo and the graphic artist will transform it into a mermaid, fairy princess or superhero making you the theme of your own party. It’s the coolest thing ever!
• Just Like Mee! gives you the ability to get unavailable themes by creating your own party theme so you to have the party of your imagination and dreams.

Conclusion There are almost over 100 event theme popular party ideas in 2020 (Studio Team, 2019) out there. However, it is still very important to many parents when thinking about the importance of preserving community integrity, culture, and promoting a healthy ounce of love in how the child views their own selves whenever they look in the mirror. Sherrell Brown recalls in this interview sharing how taken a back she was when her 6-year old daughter told her that she wanted her skin to be white so she can have magical powers like Elsa.

Our children should be reminded to love themselves and also respect and include others. Wanting to have something custom for you doesn't mean it can't be shared with the world. I think this is what gets confused whenever we hear or use the words equality, justice, and fairness.

To hear the full interview with Sherrell Brown founder of Just Like Mee! -

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Sources:

Holmquist, A. (2017). How Classic Cartoons Created a Culturally Literate Generation. [online] Intellectual Takeout. Available at: https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/article/secret-behind-baby-boomers-cultural-literacy [Accessed 31 Jan. 2020].

Ali, R. (2016). 9 Fired or Suspended Over Black Lives Matter. [online] TheWrap. Available at: https://www.thewrap.com/black-lives-matter-comments-11-people-fired-suspended/ [Accessed 31 Jan. 2020].

Kessler, S. (2010). 6 Free Sites for Creating Your Own Animations. [online] Mashable. Available at: https://mashable.com/2010/10/27/create-animations-online/ [Accessed 31 Jan. 2020].

Studio Team, E. (2019). 100 Event Theme Ideas. [online] Event Manager Blog. Available at: https://www.eventmanagerblog.com/100-event-theme-ideas [Accessed 31 Jan. 2020].