‘We can be weirdos too’: the Black mermaids creating their own fantasy worlds

Mermaiding has gained popularity in the US – and Black mermaids are using the activity to advocate for aquatic safety, raise environmental awareness and connect to African spirituality

Dressed in a purple and turquoise seashell bra and an iridescent green tail, the professional mermaid Carrie Wata swam through a hula hoop that a group of children held underwater in a pool at a birthday party outside of Atlanta, Georgia. The birthday girl was astonished to see that Wata was a Black mermaid. “You look like me,” Wata recalled the girl saying. Her mother had previously told Wata that the child was insecure about her hair and brown skin tone.

But throughout the party, Wata said that she saw the child become more self-assured as she mimicked Wata’s moves, swimming through the hula hoop and flipping her tail underwater as well. “And at that point she knew she was a mermaid because she saw a mermaid that looks like her,” Wata said. “She was 100% confident that she could be a mermaid, too.”

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