CiTR

Gyimah Gariba (He/Him) is an inspiring queer Ghanaian Canadian artist whose vision was to create a show where kids of all backgrounds, specifically Black children, could see themselves reflected on screen.

Gyimah’s career started before graduating college when he joined the character design team for Black Dynamite. Since then, he has worked on a variety of hit shows including Steven Universe, True and the Rainbow Kingdom and Justin Time GO!, where he was the lead character designer. In 2020, Gyimah was named one of Animation Magazine’s Rising Stars of Animation.



Gyimah was named by Forbes Magazine as one of “15 Young African Creative’s Rebranding Africa”; his artwork has amassed him a large following on Instagram, and he’s done collaborations with Marvel, ESPN, and Adidas.



His new CBC Kids animated series, titled Big Blue, aims to help children and their families understand climate change (without the doom and gloom) and the importance of taking care of our planet and each other. Big Blue is a cartoon comedy about siblings Lettie and Lemo (inspired by Gyimah’s own siblings) who lead The Calypso's submarine crew as they explore and protect their underwater world. Grammy-winning producer and Beatclub founder Timbaland produced the series theme song. The series is now available to watch on CBC Kids every Saturday morning, or you can stream it anytime on CBC Gem, CBC’s free service on CBCkids.ca.



He is a fierce advocate for queer rights in Ghana/Africa and continues to use his art to confront race, sexuality, and power — subverting the falsehood that "being queer is un-African".

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Kai Cheng Thom, (She/Her) is an author, performer, somatically trained coach and ex educator, mediator, wicked witch and lasagna lover based in Toronto. She is the author of five award-winning books in various genres, including the novel Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl's Confabulous Memoir, which was featured on Emma Watson's feminist book club and the children's book From the Stars in the Sky to the Fish In the Sea, which was featured on a podcast by Dame Julie Andrews. As an embodiment coach and consultant, Kai Cheng works with individuals and organizations to resolve conflicts, shift systems, and pursue transformative change. She also writes the advice column Ask Kai: Advice For the Apocalypse for Xtra, Canada's queer newspaper. Her latest novel is a children’s book For Laika: The Dog Who Learned the Names of the Stars You can learn more about the author at www.kaichengthom.com