My Santas

The words of an old song inspired a carefully curated collection

by KATHY THIGPEN, Bolingbrook, Illinois

GROWING UP, I knew two things to be true: The president of the United States was a white man, as sure as Santa Claus was. I’d never seen evidence that either could be any different, and with my dad in the Air Force, I’d lived all over the country and seen many things. I was in junior high when my dad was stationed in Montgomery, Alabama. We listened to the Black radio station, WXBI. At Christmastime, they played a song I’d never heard before, “Santa Claus Is a Black Man.” What a thought! I recognized the storyline from “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” but this soul version hit home. I giggled thinking of myself in the little girl’s shoes. It was easy to imagine my daddy as a jolly Santa,…

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The Joys Of Christmas (Digital) - 1 Issue, 2021

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