by Kwanzaa Imani


When the Annie remake was announced in 2011—back when Willow Smith was set to star and no one knew much of anything else except who was producing—I was the person who ran through the house excitedly announcing, “There’s going to be Black Annie!” until my entire family was aware of its impending existence. So, of course, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to see the movie in theaters when it was released this past December. Quvenzhané Wallis was excellent in her starring role as Annie. When the movie ended, I left the theatre singing “It’s a Hard Knock Life” with my little brother. I tried to share this excitement with my mother, but she was quick to shut down her interest in financially supporting the film due to the castings of Grace and Ms. Hannigan alone. This took a minute for me to process. Sure, Grace and Ms. Hannigan had remained white, but Rose Byrne and Cameron Diaz had played their roles just fine. Should we not support films, just because they decided not to cast black folks to star in every role?

This year Quvenzhane Wallis played "Annie" and it was a momentous casting. The young Wallis is pretty, witty, talented, and black. Quvenzhane is representation young black girls and people of color in general could look forward to Christmas Day.