‘A gamechanger.’ Visit with Black Santa in Durham shows kids that representation matters
Eight-year-old Sabina Johnson’s eyes shined while she talked up a storm sitting next to Santa Claus for a photo at the Hayti Heritage Center.
That’s because this Christmas, she was taking a photo with a special kind of Santa. This one, of course, still sported a red hat, a red coat and a fluffy white beard with a big belt.
But this photo was with a Santa who looked like her.
This holiday season, Sabina is one of hundreds of Black children in North Carolina who get to see themselves in one of the most memorable parts of Christmas through the “Santas Just Like Me” photo sessions. The program started in Durham 2013 and has since expanded to other cities.
“She’s a dark-skinned African American child in America,” said Meisha Johnson, Sabina’s mother. “She’s very excited about this.”
On Wednesday, children and parents poured in and out the historic St. Joseph’s AME Church of Hayti, the first day of the photo sessions.
Joe Griffin, who goes by Santa Joe while on the job, sat on a soft red chair as part of the pop-up photo studio. Speaking to The News & Observer while chewing on a candy cane, he was surrounded by stained glass windows inside the former church.
“Santa Claus can be anybody,” said Griffin, 68. “I act more silly than probably some of the other Santa Clauses, because I want the children, even the adults to have a good time. I like to make them smile. I like to bring joy to people’s lives. We need it sometimes. We need to laugh.”
Griffin still remembers being asked by “a white guy with a beard” several years ago while grocery shopping if he had ever thought about playing Santa Claus.
“It’s a gamechanger,” he said. “I’ve noticed that the (children) are getting more and more diverse every year. That stereotypical ‘This is who Santa is’ is starting to lose its appeal.”
Making new memories
Meisha Johnson and Sabina drove to Durham from Charleston, S.C., for the experience. Sabina wasn’t alone while sitting next to Santa. In her photos, she snuggled her toy poodle, whom she named Shuri, a character in the “Black Panther” films.
“It’s important that she sees dark-skinned individuals, African American individuals that are doing positive things that are making positive change in the world,” Meisha Johnson said.
Other families also came from out of town, like Adria Miles and her husband, Chris Golden, who live in Greensboro. It was the second time they brought their camera-shy toddler, Bryson, to see Saint Nick with Santas Just Like Me to take photos for the holidays.
“My favorite thing about it is that it’s available, period,” said Miles. “That you have an option of whatever you want your Santa to look like for your kid. Fortunately, (my son) doesn’t care yet ... but I do.”
Photos with Santa will be taken through Saturday. Over 40 reservations were made Wednesday. Although reservations are preferred, organizers said they allow several children each day to walk in.
The photos also are available in Gastonia, near Charlotte, where Santas Just Like Me will be at Eastridge Mall through Christmas Eve.
Sabina was too young to remember the last time her mother brought her to Durham to see Santa, an occasion photographed by The N&O in 2016. She was just two years old.
This time, Sabina could make memories she could remember, and she had some questions for her mother.
“She did ask me, ‘Mama, is Mrs. Santa Black, too?” Johnson said.
If you go
“Santas Just Like Me” will be at Hayti Heritage Center, 804 Fayetteville Road , Durham, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Dec. 22 and 23 and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve. The price is $45 per pop-up Santa visit and visitors can book online at santasjustlikeme.com.
