For almost my entire life, I’ve wanted to be a superhero. I grew up with a great interest in the tragedies, shortcomings, and victories of people I believed to be my personal heroes. And of course, I know they aren’t real, but little me was also so intrigued and astonished with these incredible beings, that the greatest thing in the world was to be like them, but none of them were like me.
As I grew older, I included my race and ethnicity as part of my identity, and I began to realize that the people I looked up to the most didn’t possess many of my physical qualities. To be completely honest, it broke my heart, because I felt I could never represent what a superhero could be. Recently, however, many comic book companies, including the Big Two, Marvel and DC, have been working on becoming more inclusive in their work, and there are now quite a few superheroes of color. Here of some you may or may not have heard about.
1. Riri Williams, Ironheart
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Riri is a personal favorite of mine, and if you sit behind me in any class, you would know that she is my laptop wallpaper. Riri Williams was modeled after the “Jessie” actress, Skai Jackson. Riri was classified as a super genius when she was very young, and at the age of 15, was given a scholarship into M.I.T. Now this is where it gets cool. She reverse-engineered her own version of an outdated Iron Man suit and used it to stop a group of inmates escaping from a penitentiary. She was eventually noticed by Tony Stark who inspired her to become a superhero. After Tony Stark fell into a coma after Civil War, she built a new suit of armor and took on the mantel of Ironheart. She is on a fast track to be the next Iron Man.
“I’m totally going to be Tony Stark. Except for that weird facial hair.”
2. Cassandra Cain, Blackbat
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Cassandra Cain is an important, yet often forgotten member of the Bat family. She is the daughter of two legendary assassins, David Cain and Lady Shiva. She was trained by her father to be the ultimate weapon, but after “killing” someone at 8 years old, runs away from her father. She reappears again 9 years later, when she becomes part of Oracle’s agents in No Man’s Land in Gotham City. For the next few years, she becomes one of Batman’s most loyal and trusted partners, and at one time donned the Batgirl suit. However, Cassandra was never taught to speak as a child and communicates through body language, and has the ability to understand other body languages, which enables her to predict what other people do before they do it.
“If you came looking for a monster, you’re on the wrong trail. Go away.”
3. America Chavez, Miss AmericaPhoto credit to Instagram user berberaardema
She was raised by two mothers in a woman-only Utopian universe. She fled her home after her parents risked themselves to save their home world, and she wanted to prove herself as a hero. She eventually traveled to Earth-616 when she became a part of the Young Avengers and was an integral part of the Civil War II storyline. She has the ability of flight, super speed, super strength, invulnerability, and interdimensional travel. She is the only LGBT+ Latin-American to get her own comic book series which was released in March 2017.
“You couldn’t pay me enough to join the Avengers.”
4. Danielle Moonstar, Mirage
Photo credit to marvel.wikia.com
Danielle Moonstar is a student of Professor X at the Xavier Institute. She is a Native American of the Cheyenne Nation. At puberty, she gained the ability to show people visual images of their greatest fears. This led to her being ostracized by everyone except her parents. She was the leader of the New Avengers and became an honorary citizen of Asgard when she and the New Mutants helped the Asgardians defeat Hela, the death goddess, eventually staying on Asgard and becoming a Valkyrie. She eventually returned back to Earth, where she continues to fight for the greater good.
“I am Cheyenne—and today is a good day to die!”
5. Miles Morales, Spiderman
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Miles Morales became Spiderman in an alternate universe, Earth-1610, after the Peter Parker of his world died and the world was left with no Spider-Man. He was bitten by an Oz-enhanced spider that escaped when someone broke into Osbourne Industries and it hopped into his bag. He has superhuman strength, speed, and agility, as well as a venom blast and spider camouflage. However, Miles did not want to be a superhero, he just wanted to be normal. After Peter Parker died saving his family from Norman Osbourne, Miles decided to don his suit. He eventually travels to Earth-616, where he resides now.
“With great power comes great responsibility. What would Peter Parker do?”
6. James Proudstar, Warpath
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James Proudstar was born on the Apache Reservation in Camp Verde, Arizona. He has superhuman strength, speed, stamina, as well as invulnerability. He also possesses flight, and the ability to perceive a creature’s wounds and the spirit energy when it is destroyed. Always idolizing his older brother, he felt angry and hurt when he died on one of his first missions with the X-Men. He went on a mission to kill Professor Xavier, but couldn’t bring himself to do it. Professor X offered him entry into the New Mutants, that he declined. He is now part of the X-Force along with Wolverine, Caliban, Wolfsbane, and X-23.
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you—Never bring a gun to a knife fight.”
There are countless other superheroes from all comics across the board that are representative of different groups of people. These are just a few that I know and look up to personally. Diversity is becoming more and more prevalent in our culture, so there are more and more people to represent different groups, and superheroes are just the start.