Usually when someone mentions the word, HERO… many of us tend to think of those that have served in military or high-profile individuals who have acted heroically in some situation or circumstance. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this line of thinking. However, when we do not consider or recognize the unsung heroes, the “ordinary” everyday people, we do the word “hero” and its honorable implication, a terrible injustice. There are community activists, parents, businesspeople and spiritual leaders dedicated to increasing the standard of living in their communities every day. The kind deeds and acts of bravery committed by these heroes and sheroes often are underappreciated and rarely celebrated. Their careers, far from glamorous, hardly good paying and seldom noticed, are performed without fanfare.
Nevertheless, they continue to press forward, with a smile, undoubtedly with the same issues as the rest of us and they hardly ever ask for anything.
Unfairly, the media promotes certain narratives with only a handful of individuals receiving positive recognition publicly on a consistent basis. With that in mind, the Positivity Pays Co-Founders, Ramon Robinson and Brandon Freeny, have decided to create a series of comic books about the remarkable people in our community that have had a real impact starting with Pastor Marcus Davidson of New Mount Olive Baptist Church. His mentorship and guidance have been critical to the central idea of creating stories acknowledging the heroic efforts of those right in our backyard. The Positivity Pays mission is to reshape the narrative of consistent negative imagery by serving up a daily dose of positivity. They are also adamant about continuously recognizing the men and women we all greatly appreciate in a creative way.
The Dr. Davidson story is a one of kind Christian comic exploring various topics. In the first edition of Dr. Davidson, it depicts a real-world example of how scripture can assist individuals dealing with everyday issues such as fear and anger. The villain in this particular story is the physical manifestation of the young boy’s fears. In each story our hero displays his superpowers in a spiritual fashion. Given that, the “monsters” he fights in these adventures are the evil spirits that reside within us.
Mainstream representation in the comic book space has increased for people of color as of late with the mainstream emergence of characters like Black Panther, Black Lighting, Luke Cage, War Machine and Falcon, giving a new generation of kids exposure to positive images that look just like them. Ramon and Brandon believe this momentum and their unconventional approach will be a real game changer. Imagine kids, teens and adults alike reading about actual successful men and women, portrayed as a super hero. Someone they could actually meet. Someone who could become a real-life mentor and positive role model. Wouldn’t that have more of an impact, rather than idolizing the Marvel and DC characters we’ve all grown to love?
