Beloved Black Santa returns to Baldwin Hills Crenshaw mall after pandemic break
Smiles and laughs weren't hard to come by as several children at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw mall came to see a Santa that looked just like them.
"We've been there with white Santa already so why not explain to him how our culture works and how Black Santa is great to our community and great for us," said parent Akiana Henderson.
Henderson and her best friend Ashley Johnson brought their sons to take a Christmas picture specifically with the Black Chris Kringle. For them and other parents, it's about diversity, representation and inclusion.
It's been a tradition at the South Los Angeles mall for several years and after a pandemic-era break, it is finally back in person.
"These kids need to understand Black culture, Black Santa" said Johnson. "It's not just white Santas. It's all cultures — that's big for me."
George Smithers started playing Santa 30 years ago to spread joy to his own children. He decided to spread that jolly holiday feeling to families at malls across the country for the last five years.
"Years ago, when my children were just young, we took them to see Santa," he said. "I didn't have a lot of choices and my oldest daughter began to cry."
He says there are less than a dozen other Black Santas that travel to shopping centers nationwide to give families of color the holiday experience their hearts desire.
"It's definitely something that folks from all across the United States are looking for and it needs to be more," said Smithers.
Parents agree and said while the community looks forward to having a Black mall Santa during the holidays his prevalence is needed in areas beyond predominately Black communities every Christmas season.
"I feel like he's here at Crenshaw mall because it's a more because it's a more Black-on-Black community," said Henderson. "It's probably hard to get him to go to Del Amo — or they want him at Del Amo. We need to get him around through."
Santa typically sees about 100 families on the weekends and more during the week leading up to Christmas. The last chance to catch him at the mall is Christmas Eve at 7 p.m.
