Representation matters when it comes to community and academic leadership, but having role models that look like us is just as relevant in the digital sphere. The television shows and movies that we watch as small children and later on in childhood are powerful in shaping our ideas, creativity, and view of society from a young age, as they are some of our first exposures to perceived norms in national and global culture.

So far, the majority of children’s programming has reflected inequities in STEM rather than actively working to improve representation. We already know the world has a lot of work to do in creating digital stories with more Black characters, much less those in STEM-related children’s programming, but recent shows and movies have been changing that! In honor of Black History Month, here are some children’s shows with Black characters who have already helped thousands, if not millions, of children envision a world where they share a skin tone or culture with a scientist; many shows have also intentionally targeted the intersectionality that Black girls experience and encourage these girls to believe that they are ready as much as anyone else to rock STEM.

Doc McStuffins

This Disney Junior cartoon features the title character Dottie McStuffins, who dresses in a white coat and stethoscope and cares for the ailments of stuffed animals and toys, mirroring the care her physician mother offers her own patients. Medical scenes vary from check-ups to patching and sewing up stuffed animals in surgery to explaining to viewers what chemotherapy is. In 2013, a year after the show’s debut, Disney partnered with Black doctors to inspire children to pursue medicine during Black History Month. Black female physicians also started a movement they call “We Are Doc McStuffins” to empower themselves, and this has since developed into the Artemis Medical Society that strengthens networking, mentorship, and advocacy for women of color. In fact, Dottie’s mother is named Myiesha after emergency physician Dr. Myiesha Taylor, who helped form the society. Dr. Taylor, along with co-founders Dr. Aletha Maybank and Dr. Naeemah Ghafur, are featured in shorts alongside Doc McStuffins to enhance the show’s message and pique children’s interest in medicine even more. Off-screen, toy sets associated with the show come with medical toys like otoscopes and syringes that encourage girls and Black children especially to explore play roles in healthcare that mirror those of their beloved Doc McStuffins.

Cyberchase

Jackie, or Jax, is one of the three main human characters in the Canadian-American show that has aired on PBS Kids since 2002. She, along with her friends, frequently enter “Cyberspace,” a digital world often thrown into chaos by digital villains, and use math, science, and logic to solve scenarios ranging from area and perimeter optimizations for skating rinks to calculating travel distances in a cooking showdown. Her character design includes black curly hair that may match viewers’ hair; Jackie can empower other Black girls to persevere in the face of challenging problems and to aid communities in need just as she and her friends travel to different cyber worlds and use STEM to assist troubled inhabitants. Her love of making diagrams, charts, and graphs to solve the scientific and mathematical obstacles her team comes across can help children realize there is not just one correct way to problem-solve.

Black Panther

Though not a show written directly for children, the 2018 film Black Panther has been continually lauded as a film celebrating Black culture within Hollywood and America. The movie’s backdrop of the fictional African nation of Wakanda, its depicted customs, and the film’s costumes not only highlight the importance of Black and African culture and customs, but of the story and settings’ central reliance on Wakandan technology as well. The country’s treasured metal, vibranium, is a precious commodity around which the interplay of colonialism, capitalism, and racial inequity play out in a more grave theme of the movie. Vibranium is the main component of Captain America’s shield and the power high speed rail systems within Wakanda, further hinting at both the importance of the nation in the Avengers franchise and its scientific prowess. The movie even ends with T’Challa declaring the opening of a science outreach facility for children in Oakland that will be headed by his technologically savvy sister, Shuri. Shuri herself can serve as a role model to show that Black girls are capable of creating innovative technology and leading nations with their STEM skills, even from a young age. In a move paralleling that of its film, the Disney Corporation donated $1 million to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, including new STEM Centers of Innovation in Oakland and other cities that are home to dense populations of African American children, such as Harlem, Watts, New Orleans, Chicago, and Atlanta. Disney Plus also just released plans earlier this year for a Black Panther series focusing on the kingdom of Wakanda; Wakandans and their technology are also already highlighted in various episodes of Marvel Avenger cartoons.

Gabby’s Dollhouse

A new show that premiered in January 2021 on Netflix, Gabby’s Dollhouse features a Black girl and her miniature cat companions as they explore different crafts and hobbies. One episode opens with Gabby giving her stuffed cat a check-up hinting to the Black girls of the show’s audience that they can be doctors too. A frequent companion to Gabby is Mercat, a rainbow mermaid kitten hybrid, who loves to sing about “spa science,” combining activities and sparkly appearances that are stereotypically associated with girls with a scientific spin. She even wears safety goggles and handles round-bottomed flasks with cat ears! Gabby participates in Mercat’s scientific endeavors as well, including mixing glass vials and Erlenmeyer flasks of liquid together while sporting adorable kitten-ear adorned safety glasses.

Blaze and the Monster Machines

AJ is a Black 8-year old boy who is the best friend and driver to the title character, Blaze, who is a red monster truck that can transform into different machines that AJ is a pro at operating. Together they complete fun themed races and solve problems around their city using their STEM knowledge. In one episode, AJ explains what a ballast tank is and how it works to allow a submarine to navigate in the ocean; in another, he practices number sense while cheering on Blaze in a tug-o-war with another monster truck. Additionally, the only other human character is Gabby, a purple-haired girl who is the sole mechanic of the city and who loves to use hardware tools to fix anything and everything, yet again challenging the scientific social norms of the past. Natural science concepts such as density and seemingly complex engineering concepts such as the air lift provided by a helicopter’s whirling rotor are introduced easily to young audience members and work to build the foundational knowledge and interest of children of all backgrounds in STEM.

Mama K’s Team 4

As more shows appear with Black children exploring science, math, and technology, these will help normalize the STEM experiences of young children of all backgrounds and especially empower Black children to become strong members of the STEM community. Mama K’s Team 4 is another show currently being developed for Netflix by a team of African creators and female writers that will focus on four girls who train as secret agents equipped with high-tech gadgets in Zambia.

Expectations by children who do not identify as Black to successfully work alongside or look for their Black peers within their classrooms, labs, and scientific institutions may improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM in the future. No age is too young to start becoming involved in STEM, and with the increase in media entertainment for our youngest world citizens, we can start engaging and training our scientists of the future in an extremely fun way.