This is true hustle and purpose right here! A mom and daughter in the UK have created their own magazines, the firsts to celebrate black girls and boys in the region.

Serlina Boyd and her six-year-old daughter Faith noticed that publications that they picked up regularly lacked diversity. Faith wanted to read magazines as a part of her homeschooling lessons during the quarantine. However, she didn’t see people who looked like her.

Serlina made it her mission to create a magazine with her daughter that would be an inspiration for Faith and other black girls. Along with Faith as editor, Serlina created Cocoa Girl, the first magazine in the UK for black girls aged seven to 14.

The magazine features inspirational and empowering content for these girls. Topics include everything from affirmations and taking care of natural hair to facts and lessons about black culture.

Since its launch in June, Cocoa Girl has sold over 11,000 copies, which is a marvel for an independent magazine in a time where magazine sales across the world are in decline. For Serlina, though, what matters most is that other black girls are seeing themselves reflected in this magazine. “There [are] a few mothers that have bought this magazine as a surprise for their daughter,” Serlina shared in an interview with BBC. “Some of them have never seen a black girl on the cover of a magazine before.” 

It meant the world to this mom that her daughter would be able to see herself on the cover and throughout this magazine. “I knew that she was struggling with what she looked like,” Serlina said of Faith. “This journey that she’s gone on to love her hair, to love her skin tone, to love everything about herself is the most amazing thing that’s happened. I’m just hoping other little girls can go on that journey too.” 

Serlina and Faith will also launch a magazine for boys, appropriately titled Cocoa Boy,  which is set to come out this September. Though both Cocoa Girl and Cocoa Boy feature black children, Serlina hopes that children from all races will pick up a copy. “These magazines aren’t just for black children,” she stated. “They are for children from all races as it teaches them about the black culture and black history.”

In a world where black people are not celebrated as much as their white counterparts, it’s important to have that representation. It’s important to see others that look like you doing what you want to do because it makes you feel like you can do it too! 

Even these two just starting their own magazine is motivation for me! It goes to show that, with determination and passion, you can accomplish pretty much anything. 

Watch more of this story below!