This feature was originally published on August 2, 2024.
Navigating the geek community as a Black fan can be challenging. While it’s a space meant for shared passion and enthusiasm, it’s not always welcoming to everyone. Sometimes, mainstream fan groups within this community can be unsafe for Black people, as prejudice and misogyny often go unchecked. In these spaces, Black fans, especially women, may find themselves marginalized, facing microaggressions or outright hostility.
Amiyrah Martin, a dedicated Disney enthusiast and community builder, has taken it upon herself to champion Black “Disney Adult” moms. Through her efforts, she has fostered a sense of belonging and representation for a demographic that has long been underrepresented in the broader Disney fandom. Amiyrah recently spoke with I Love Us to share her journey.
The Birth of a Community
As a longtime Disney fan, Amiyrah’s journey into the world of Disney fandom began long before she ever imagined creating a community of her own. Selected as a planDisney panelist in December 2013, she found herself thrust into a more visible role within the Disney community. For those unfamiliar, a planDisney panelist is a Disney Parks enthusiast who provides advice and answers questions for potential visitors, drawing from their personal experiences. These panelists are selected through a competitive process and serve as unofficial ambassadors of Disney magic, offering insights and tips to help others make the most of their Disney experiences.
Amiyrah’s selection as a planDisney panelist marked a significant milestone in her journey as a prominent figure within the Disney community. However, she quickly realized that despite her new role, there was still a lack of representation for Black women in this space. “Even then, there weren’t that many Black panelists,” she recalls. “It felt like it should have been more.”
This realization led Amiyrah to seek out other Black Disney fans who shared her passion for the magic of Disney. She began connecting with bloggers and other Disney enthusiasts who, like her, were looking for a sense of community. “We just got to the point where we’re like, ‘why are we not seeing enough of us?’” Amiyrah explains. “We weren’t seeing us as much back then. Let’s just get together and do something.”
The Power of Community and Representation
In December 2014, Amiyrah organized a Twitter campaign to highlight the presence of Black Disney fans, using a hashtag to share photos and stories of Black families enjoying the parks. The campaign was a success, but for Amiyrah and the other participants, it was just the beginning. “I was the one who kind of organized it, like, ‘Hey guys, we’ll post on this day. Here’s a hashtag we created.’ So after that, everyone came back to me and said, ‘Okay, what’s next?’” Amiyrah recalls. “And I don’t know. I thought that was all we were going to do. That was really fun, you know, hopefully people will see it.”
With the momentum from the Twitter campaign, Amiyrah decided to create a more permanent space for Black Disney moms to connect and share their experiences. In February 2015, she launched the Black Disney Moms Facebook group, a space where Black moms with a love for all things Disney could come together to discuss Disney news, Parks, feature films, and merchandise. The group was intentionally created to be a safe space for Black women, where they could talk freely about their experiences and share their love for Disney without fear of judgment or exclusion.
“We specifically wanted to have it be for Black moms, just so that way we could talk about our kids in there and not have our kids be in there. We could talk about our partners and not have them actually be in there. We could talk about what we wanted to, we could have grown-up conversations, or juvenile conversations,” Amiyrah explains. “We just wanted it to be a safe space for that particular minority of a minority.”
The group started small, with only a handful of members in the early years. However, by 2019, and especially during the pandemic, the group saw a significant increase in membership. “It just blew up,” Amiyrah recalls. “We went from 500 or so people to now thousands of people in the group.” Despite this rapid growth, the group has maintained its focus on being a safe and welcoming space for Black women, with strict guidelines to ensure that the community remains supportive and inclusive.
Challenges and Triumphs
Building and maintaining a safe space for Black women in the Disney community has not been without its challenges. One of the biggest challenges, according to Amiyrah, has been ensuring that each member of the group is, in fact, a Black woman. “The admins and I are basically detectives at this point,” she says. “Unfortunately, we do have people who consistently try to enter the group that are in no way Black women. It is alarming to us, as the gatekeepers of it, to see that there are people just seeking us out like that, to come into our spaces and infiltrate and just make them unsafe.”
This commitment to maintaining the integrity of the group has meant that the admins take the time to thoroughly vet each new member before allowing them to join. “We can’t just automatically add people and grow exponentially like you would think we would be able to, because we are very, very serious about keeping this space safe and keeping the demographic the way it is,” Amiyrah explains.
Another challenge has been maintaining a family-friendly atmosphere within the group. The group has strict rules against profanity and overly suggestive content, to ensure that it remains a space where members can feel comfortable engaging with the content, even with their children present. “We want it to be safe for your kids too,” Amiyrah says. “We don’t want to be the ones to put something out there that you have to really be fast about closing.”
Despite these challenges, the Black Disney Moms Facebook group has thrived under Amiyrah’s leadership. The feedback from the community has been overwhelmingly positive, with members consistently expressing their appreciation for the safe and supportive environment the group provides. “Our feedback from our community over and over again is that I actually feel like this is a safe space, not like some other spaces that I’m in, where they say it, but still I don’t feel it,” Amiyrah says. “And having that feedback over and over again just feels great, because we deserve that as Black women.”
Representation Matters
Amiyrah’s efforts to create safe spaces for Black women in the Disney community are deeply rooted in her understanding of the importance of representation. Throughout her life, Amiyrah has often found herself in the position of being the first to do something. “In my life, I’ve always been put in the position of being the first of doing things,” she reflects. “I don’t mind putting a Black face and the excitement, the focus, and determination that Black women bring to things, to something that maybe hasn’t seen a Black woman bring that energy to.”
For Amiyrah, being a visible figure in the Disney community as a former planDisney panelist and the host of the planDisney podcast is an honor, but it also comes with a sense of responsibility. “It’s always an honor because that means if I can do this, if I can just be in the forefront–and sometimes I’ll get beaten up a little bit–it’s allowing the next Black woman to do it too, and go, ‘Somebody’s already started it, I just gotta keep going,’” she says.
Through her work with the Black Disney Moms Facebook group, Amiyrah has created a space where Black women can see themselves represented in the Disney community. She has also made a concerted effort to ensure that the women in the group are aware of opportunities within the Disney community, such as the planDisney panelist search. According to a TikTok video posted by former planDisney panelist Korliss Datcher in 2022, at the time, there had only been 22 Black planDisney panelists since the program’s inception in 2008. Amiyrah’s group, which includes other current and former Black planDisney panelists, has made it a priority to ensure that the women in the group know about the platform and the application window each year. As a result, several of the groups members have applied for the 2025 panelist search, which is currently underway.
Amiyrah is also the first and only host of the planDisney podcast, where she interviews current panelists, Imagineers, and Disney executives to share tips and showcase new Disney experiences with guests. As the face of the podcast, Amiyrah brings visibility and representation to the forefront, allowing viewers to see a beautiful Black woman who sometimes sports a curly afro, twist-outs, butterfly locs, or box braids. Her presence on the podcast is particularly significant, as her name, which literally means “princess,” adds an extra layer of cultural pride and empowerment to her role.
Martin’s sentiments about the opening of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure are filled with pride and admiration for Disney’s progress. She described her feelings of seeing Princess Tiana being treated with the respect and attention she deserved, saying, “Finally, we’re getting exactly what we deserve to see every day.” She praised Disney for their thoughtful approach, noting that “the way that Disney has invested and put care into the way they’ve portrayed Princess Tiana has brought me to tears repeatedly.” Martin emphasized that Disney has set a high standard with their inclusive efforts, stating, “Disney created the blueprint. I really, really hope other brands have taken note of how they did this.”
Building a Legacy
As the Black Disney Moms Facebook group approaches its 10th anniversary in February 2025, Amiyrah is proud of what the community has achieved. “It really feels like a safe space because we say, hey, we won’t allow you to do that. You’re not going to say this. You can’t bully. You can’t do this,” she says. “It’s just been nice to kind of see that. Oh gosh yes, we’re actually doing the thing we wanted to do in the first place.”
Amiyrah’s work in creating and nurturing this community drives home the power of representation and the importance of safe spaces for marginalized groups. She has carved out a space where they can come together, share their love for Disney, and feel truly seen and valued. Her efforts serve as a reminder that representation matters and that when we create spaces where people can see themselves, we empower them to dream bigger, reach higher, and build communities that reflect their experiences and aspirations.
Cover photo: Amiyrah Martin is Championing Black Women in the Disney Community / Credit: AmiyrahMartin.com
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