From Mikey Walsh to Miles Morales
Sniffling, Nate, my five year old said, “I want to be Spider-Man for Halloween but I can’t.” Even though it was the middle of June and I have no idea why he was thinking about Halloween, I responded. “Of course you can. Why couldn’t you?” He went on to explain that Spider-Man, the new one from the movie, Into the Spiderverse , has dark skin and fuzzy hair and, unless Nate can change his skin color and hair texture, he can never be Spider-Man. Spider-Man AKA Miles Morales. Half African American half Puerto Rican kid from Brooklyn. I will let that soak in for a minute. People of color have been having conversations like these with their children for years but for me, a White guy raised in the 80s and 90s, this is new. My childhood was a good time to be Mike Walsh. From the Life Cereal commercials starring a kid named Mikey who looked a lot like me that “likes it,” to Mikey Walsh, the main character and saver of the neighborhood i...