The magic of “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” comes from many artists. While watching the movie in theaters, a scene that may blow you away is a uniquely rendered animated LEGO sequence that surprisingly was created by Preston Mutanga, a 14-year-old high school student.

Black women are continuing to create solutions to problems that have nearly been ingrained into society. One of the latest to do so is Thandiwe MIauli, founder and CEO of Studio Yezi, a South African development and animation studio on a mission to challenge Hollywood’s models of animation. According to their website, the name is inspired by the isiZulu word “inkanyezi” which means “Star.” Thus the company aims to be a “symbol of hope and light [and] serve the world with our storytelling.” She tells IOL News she feels the current landscape of the South African animation world does not accurately represent its audience. As a teenager, she fell in love with Japanese animation and “wanted something to connect her to [the characters].” “Black people have been fans of fantasy, superhero, comic-book inspired stories,” she said. “And yet writers seem to forget us when they create.” MIauli decided to create a whimsical fantasy adventure animation titled “SOLA” starring a brown-skinned, afro...