JEFFERSONVILLE, Ga. — A Texas man is paying homage to his Central Georgia roots while working with his 8-year-old daughter to empower children of color.
Javoris Hollingsworth and his daughter, Graceyn, live in Houston and have a YouTube channel together called Gracie's Corner.
In their latest video, “I Love My Hair,” animated kids sing empowering lyrics while dancing in front of Central Georgia landmarks. It’s to represent his hometown, Jeffersonville.
“I’m originally from Jeffersonville, Georgia and that was part of the inspiration for the location that I chose to highlight in the animation,” Javoris said.
Their video prominently shows the Jeffersonville water tower.
“I tried to pull in two components showing the rural side of Middle Georgia and then, if you see in the video too, there’s another part where it kind of shows like a big city type of environment and that can relate more to like Macon,” he said.
It’s all about giving kids an opportunity to have a positive outlook about themselves and their community, Javoris says.
“There’s very little representation and if you’re taking about places such as Jeffersonville, which are much smaller, there’s even less. So, I felt like this was a great opportunity to show the kids that they matter and they are thought about,” he said.
Javoris says he remembers when he once walked in on his daughter crying to his wife about her hair.
“From that moment we realized, okay, it’s important for us to make sure that she realizes that her hair, just the way it is, is beautiful,” he said.
Javoris and Graceyn try to spread positive messages to kids across the world through their channel.
“I feel like, right now, If you pay attention to everything that’s going on in the U.S., it’s more important now than ever to make sure that the kinds understand that they matter, you’re special, and they’re unique,” Javoris said.
Graceyn says she loves making videos with her dad because she gets to sing and spend time together.
“I felt great, happy,” she said.
She says her favorite way to wear her hair is in a bun or in two pigtails. Javoris says she also always loves to wear a bow.
Javoris writes the lyrics to the songs on Gracie’s Corner and Graceyn sings them. Then, they send the recordings off to an animator to bring their vision to life.
“Together I guess we’re a little bit like a dynamic duo,” Javoris said.
Graceyn wants to be a singer when she grows up.
“It’s kind of cool, too, because I grew up in the church in Georgia and that’s where I really got involved in music and then this was an opportunity to kind of rekindle that flame with music and also share this opportunity with my daughter,” Javoris said.