feature: garnet – the badass character from progressive animated show, ‘steven universe’

‘Steven Universe’, conceived by Rebecca Sugar, is the first woman-created show ever aired on Cartoon Network, and it is groundbreaking.The show follows Steven, a goofy young boy, who is being raised by three ‘Crystal Gems’, non-binary aliens who take female forms and use female pronouns.The gems fight to protect humanity from bad aliens, both on earth and in outer space. The three main gems are all voiced by women of color, and voice talent on the show includes the likes of Estelle and Nicki Minaj.The most badass gem of them all is Garnet, voiced by Estelle. Although, technically, Garnet is an alien, she is coded as a black woman, wielding a giant square afro along with her huge fists. Garnet is the leader of the alien-fighting-trio, and is undeniably the toughest, coolest, strongest persona on the show. In each, short, ten-minute episode, Steven Universe is challenging traditional children’s television by gently bringing up subjects like gender norms, female empowerment, non-nuclear families, and same-sex relationships. Watch Garnet being a badass, and hear Estelle’s amazing vocals, in the video below.

By Allison Ong, AFROPUNK Contributor: #ffffff;”>. .

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