London, May 2020 – Kugali Media announces Mackin educational partnership to empower teachers around the world to explore diversity in the classroom through comics with beautiful African art.
Addressing the lack of diversity in comics, CEO Ziki Nelson founded Kugali Media “to show the world that Africa has heroes too.” In the three years since they started, Kugali Media has grown to become the largest pan African comic book publisher in the world. Their works combine African storytelling and folklore with exquisitely stylized artwork. Telling stories through print, digital and augmented reality, including working with Snapchat to create a viral Black History Month filter that was used 40 million times.
Now more than ever educators are looking for ways to build respect for differences and weave diversity into the fabric of students’ everyday lives. However, finding a way to do so that is fun and engaging for children can be a challenge. The visual nature of comic books offers an entertaining solution, whilst simultaneously building reading comprehension, literary analysis, and cultural awareness. Clearly, comics can be an invaluable teaching tool.
Kugali Media’s partnership with Mackin grants thousands of teachers access to the creative resources needed to grab students’ attention. Stimulating learning about representation in media, and perhaps widening their range of role models by virtue of seeing superheroes of colour.