Did Producers Whitewash ‘Jem's' Only Black Character for Upcoming Film?

Since news broke that Jem and the Holograms would be heading to the big screen, many of my friends have been excited. And as an ‘80s baby, I totally get it.

I remember watching Jem and her crew of badass rockers take on the music world and battle it out with musical rivals the Misfits every Saturday morning. As a matter of fact, I begged my parents to buy me the dolls and even had a cassette tape (remember those?) of songs from both bands (confession: I was kind of a Misfits girl). So when news hit that one of our beloved 80s cartoons would not only make a comeback, but would be in theaters, many of us were admittedly thrilled.

In case you’re too young to remember, Jem originally ran from 1985 to 1988 and included an extremely multicultural cast. There was Jerrica Benton aka Jem, the White lead singer and record company owner; Jem’s little sister Kimber; Aja, an Asian-American guitarist; Raya, a Mexican-American drummer and backup singer; and Shana, an African-American drummer, bass player, and singer.

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