When I discovered Princess Jasmine in Disney’s Aladdin, I immediately became obsessed. I dressed up as her for three years in a row for Halloween.

As a young girl, Princess Jasmine was the first representation of a brown girl who kinda sorta looked like me, being a princess. The discovery of Mulan and Pocahontas brought me the same joy.

Looking back on it, Princess Jasmine’s presence in my childhood was extremely important. For the first time in my young life, I saw a main character who resembled me. As an adult, when I watched Kamala Harris become vice president, I felt a surge of hope, pride and dignity. There sitting in the second highest position of power was a woman of color, someone I felt could represent me.

Growing up, I clung to any character who I felt could slightly resemble, me but was often left disappointed by the lack of representation in novels and movies.

I read frequently as a young child. If a description of the characters had not been given by the author, I would occasionally picture the female protagonist to resemble myself or my friends.

When film adaptations would come along, these same characters who I had imagined as BIPOC were cast as white, even if never specified in novels. Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Percy Jackson–these are all unfortunate examples of the normalized white-washing in the media.

Seeing yourself in the media, in stories, in positions of power-all of it helps you shape a narrative of what someone like you can become.

Being able to picture yourself as the hero, the love interest, the leader; it’s vital. For BIPOC children, the experience of feeling underrepresented and unseen continues on with history textbooks, movies, media and even social media. Many BIPOC people have yet to see representation of themselves within the media. Instead, minorities are often portrayed as stereotypes, and many of these portrayals are sadly inaccurate and even harmful.