Comic book expounds black mothers as women of dialogue

Her name is Scheena Donia. She is an image coach, a communication consultant, a mother of four children, and a very active blogger on social networks.

She is a woman with multiple hats who lives in Paris but remains intrinsically linked to her Gabonese roots.

A woman you will have understood with an already busy life, but who found the time to write a comic book.

 "C'est Maman qui commande" (It's Mom who orders) has just been released in France and also in French-speaking African countries.

"I wanted to write this book so that children, who are like me Afro-descendants, or not, also see what their daily lives are like in a comic book. The idea of representation is very important. I also wanted to honor African mothers who are often caricatured when they are shown on TV, in boubou, always angry... and not necessarily in their diversity. I wanted to show that there is not only one way to be a mother, and a black mother. We don't all live in the country, sometimes we live in separate villages, which in my case with my children, but we have this common DNA, that is to say, the: mom decides, the children execute," said.

In this comic, Scheena Donia highlights the influence of her Gabonese origins on parenting and education of her children ... enriching her reflection of experiences on the issue in connection with her life in France.

The book reveals a black mother as woman of dialogue and communication. She also wants her comic to open the way to discussion on parenting.

"To pay tribute to the cities that have supported my comic book "C'est maman qui commande", the idea was to organize talks on parenthood, within one city exclusively dads, in another mom, and to address together, in all honesty, all those things that we should have known before becoming parents. Hopefully, these conversations will continue in our homes and on social networks," said Donia.

She also attended a talk show organized in Côte d'Ivoire, in Abidjan and reiterated, "It's good to talk about these subjects that we don't talk about very often and that remain taboo. We think that it is obvious for everyone, that it is natural, but by discussing and sharing, we realize that we all have the same problems.

"I have had people write to me and say, "Mom is in charge and who is in charge?" These are men who ask me so I clarify to them that I did not say "It is madam who commands" but I said "It is mom who commands," so she commands the people who call her mom, that is to say, the children," said Donia.

The adventure of "It's mom who commands" is far from over. The book now awaits translation into English and will be in bookstores in the United States, Canada, England. In Africa, the translated version will be available in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya.