Keeana S. Saxon remembers the feeling that prompted her to switch the channel in the middle of a children’s television show she was watching with her then-toddler daughter. In the show, a main character is an adversary and their sidekicks were colored dark. In other programs as well, Black characters were often side characters or were cast with negative stereotypes of being “silent or sinister.”

Saxon also remembers being devastated when her daughter shared with her that not looking like Elsa from the Disney movie “Frozen” made her sad.

She recalls as well being surprised that the lack of positive representation for Black children was still a problem decades after her own childhood.

“I was only raised on very few shows. And so, I was just appalled that the only thing that had improved was the number of shows, but not actually quality when it comes to seeing representation,” said Saxon.

It was then that she decided, “I’ve got to do something about it.”

In 2022, she officially launched Kidogo Productions. Meaning “little” in Swahili, Kidogo offers “wholesome, educational content for children whose Black characters wholeheartedly honor the African diaspora, with the goal of connect[ing] with and have a positive impact on children from all across the world while affirming Black people and their cultures,” Saxon said.

In the current programming landscape, “We’re not characters who actually drive the plot,” she said of Black people. “Or you’re getting really bad representation, which is stereotypes that would damage our identity.”

In the instances where those problems don’t exist, it’s rare to find programming that’s both affirming of Black identity and is high quality in terms of its educational value, she said.

“You’re getting one or the other — you’re getting representation, and maybe because of a lack of resources, the quality is not there for the production or the educational content.” Or the opposite might be true. “You are getting educational content, [but] you’re getting [little or] no representation.”

As a small creative studio, the company creates live experiences, fun games and original content (activity books, backpacks, books), along with building a digital world on the online game platform Roblox. Called Kidogoville, the game is intended to offer a space “where learning is joyful, culture is celebrated, and every kid gets to see themselves as the hero of the story,” according to the company’s website.

The company has hosted live experiences throughout the city at various events, such as the annual African Festival of Boston and at the Boston Art & Music Soul Fest Inc (BAMS). It has also held events at the Museum of Science to help audiences learn more, for instance, about Black identity and hair.

As part of its work, Kidogo recently put on a live event to celebrate Kwanzaa. “We took each of the seven days and we created these experiences where kids will be able to really get into the principle, through different processes,” Saxon said. The kids read a book about Kwanzaa and then as a group participated in an immersive Kidogoville activity that included music, movement and games inspired by the seven principles and Adinkra symbols. “The kids just stuck with us.”

That level of engagement is something that Saxon is constantly looking for to know if Kidogo’s work is resonating with audiences.

“One of the things that I’ve said often is that I’m looking for the twinkle in the eye of the children,” she said. “I think there’s quite a lot of data out there that talks about achievement gaps, test scores, and the disparity and resources for different schools…but it really comes down to whether the children’s eyes will light up when they are experiencing your content,” she said.

That emotional connection is also why it’s important to have safe spaces that center Black youth, Saxon said.

“Anything that centers Blackness is torn apart for no other reasons than racism, bigotry, prejudice and greed,” she said. Taking inspiration from the past and fighting back however possible against such attacks is crucial for Saxon. “We need to be able to find a place of safety, of refuge. And for people like me, who are in this creative and educational space, we are making sure that Black love and Black education is still [the] epicenter, and still as high quality as ever,” she said.