Barbara Solomon
Barbara Solomon, founder of Adzua Art Associates and author of the Princess Kamala series, has for several years dedicated her work to creating animated children’s books that offer enjoyable storylines and share valuable and empowering lessons from precolonial Africa. Most importantly, she reminds young people of a fact many are unaware of – that they were derived from kings and queens. As a former dance teacher at Manhattan Community College, Barbara cultivated her love for artistic expression and telling descriptive stories. Recognizing the limited and often stereotypical depictions of Black people across the diaspora, she decided to counter those narratives by providing more accurate explanations of who Africa’s descendants truly are. “The Africa I present is not filtered through someone else’s lenses. We need to teach our children who they are. Pop culture is not going to do it.”