The title pretty much explains the whole concept of this new animated webs series, "Heroes of Color," which is a new project created by David Heredia, as an entertaining and educational video series for everyone, with the goal to "celebrate the courage, perseverance and intellect of people of color."
The series, which is planned to continue throughout the year, will exclusively focus on a diverse group of heroes, includes Black, Native American, Latino and Filipino people, among others.
The pilot episode (which you can which below) tells the story of the 369th U.S Army Regiment, one of many segregated military units in 1918, sent to France during Word War 1. The 369th – also known as "The Harlem Hellfighters" – not only "proved their worth, but became one of the most highly decorated military units in U.S. history. While they were highly decorated and honored in France, they were virtually ignored in the U.S. upon their return."
The pilot episode and all future episodes of the series will be available to be viewed on the VJTV cable television netwprl (vjtvnetwork.com), as well as on HeroesofColor.com.
As for the creator of the series, David Heredia, he is a native of the Dominican Republic. He founded his custom animation and design firm Heredia Designs back in 1987. He says that he came up with the concept for the series because "as an avid comic book collector, I was always upset with the lack of heroes of color represented. From this, my title and logline of the show were born— ‘Our heroes don’t need capes’ – ‘Heroes of Color’.”
He adds that this is not the first time he has tried to create such a project: "I have always loved to use art as a medium to educate. In 2008, I created a multicultural series called ‘Colores De Nuestras Culturas’ (the colors of our cultures), a unique cartoon collection of over 45 nations represented in my series that I desperately tried to have showcased in the gallery of the United Nations in Manhattan."
"Unfortunately, when I finally got in touch with the right department, they expressed no interest in featuring the series. I sold over 500 posters both online and at San Diego Comic-Con which I attended for three straight years. Each poster features the nations flag, a unique cartoon character playing an instrument typical to that country and a short blurb describing some of the music that comes out of the region."
However, with "Heroes of Color," Heredia has taken his concept straight to the people, and without having to worry about the clueless middlemen who decide and choose what you should watch.
Take a look at the premiere episode:
