“In the life of a founder, you often want to make improvements, change the world, and make your mark. But you really need support to be able to do that.” — Keeana Saxon.
Can you share a bit about the need for an endeavor like Kidogo and how it got started?
Keeana Saxon: I have a seven-year-old daughter, and in order to limit her screen time, I did not allow her to watch a lot of TV before she turned about two and a half. At that point, I noticed a couple of tropes and habits that TV show creators employ, and one of them is the use of the color black and other dark colors juxtaposed against white or light colors. Black and dark colors are often characterized as evil, and the white and light colors are attributed to heroes. Then the protagonist dominates and triumphs over a darker character. We need to be a lot more mindful of the impact that these anti-Black images have on our children.
Children learn about colors very early, and they learn associations very early. By the age of three or four, they understand there's a hierarchy, and discrimination can happen very early among kids in elementary school. One day, I was sitting in church, and the pastor said that if you see a problem and you're praying about it, sometimes you're the one who is supposed to address the problem. Don't wait for somebody else to do it.
So that's how Kidogo Productions started. I and a couple of creators from my church got together, and we started by creating a nursery rhyme. We published our early content on YouTube and Facebook and saw a wave of positive comments. Then we participated in pitch competitions and business accelerators to try and get more funding.
We've started working on an app that streams great content, which we define as content that centers Black excellence and Black joy across the diaspora. And it's not just passive content to watch; we also want children to interact with and learn from the content. Children watch more than four hours of media a day, so interactive engagement is important to us. We think of it as a loop where we bring children onto the app, they enjoy the content, they engage with our content in person (through games, live events, and partnerships we're building)n and then they return to the app.
What excites you most about being a member of the Ujima Good Business Alliance?
The word I keep coming back to is "community." In the life of a founder, you often want to make improvements, change the world, and make your mark. But you really need support to be able to do that. I now understand the adage, "If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together." So through the alliance, knowing there are people who can offer technical assistance allows me to finally release some of my anxiety about whether I'm making the right decisions in the business.
I also like that the UGBA acknowledges that social enterprises like Kidogo can be profitable. People often think we're a nonprofit entity because they think in our effort to celebrate diversity, we won't make much money. The business piece of our work has not always been accepted by the mainstream and by white people, so it feels nice to be seen as a business that does good work and meets its financial goals.
What are you and the Kidogo team most looking forward to in the next few months?
Just today, it was announced that I'd be speaking at TEDx Roxbury, so that alone is a huge accomplishment for me! I'll be speaking about the light versus dark color bias in children's media and how harmful it is.
We're also partnering with BAMSFest, so we'll have activities for kids at that three-day festival. The week before that, we'll be at the Hyde Park Juneteenth Festival for the second year, offering some kids' activities. Finally, we're planning the first of a touring series of concerts featuring musicians from across the African diaspora who create music for kids. So we have lots of exciting events coming up!
Kidogo Productions is an early-stage tech startup with big dreams for the world's kids. Kidogo is building a community of parents, caregivers, educators, and community organizations that believe in celebrating the diversity of the African diaspora. The Kidogo team works hard to ensure that children can play and learn safely whether online or in-person.Their seminal product is Kidogo TV, which offers curated content, interactive activities, and live events that affirm and uplift Black people and characters.
NITTY GRITTY - NITTY GRITTY - NITTY GRITTY - NITTY GRITTY - NITTY GRITTY - NITTY GRITTY -
INVESTMENT PIPELINE
Visit our Investment Pipeline Status page to
track the progress of Ujima’s investment plans, lists, and votes.
FINANCIAL DASHBOARD
For additional updates and information on the Ujima Fund, visit our Financial Dashboard.
DONATE
Donate to Ujima’s general operations.
NITTY GRITTY - NITTY GRITTY - NITTY GRITTY - NITTY GRITTY - NITTY GRITTY - NITTY GRITTY -
INVESTMENT PIPELINE
Visit our Investment Pipeline Status page to
track the progress of Ujima’s investment plans, lists, and votes.
FINANCIAL DASHBOARD
For additional updates and information on the Ujima Fund, visit our Financial Dashboard.
DONATE
Donate to Ujima’s general operations.