What is Callaloo?

About
Callaloo is a children’s media brand that promotes cultural understanding and social awareness education for toddlers and children ages 3-7 through books, animation, live performance, digital content, games and arts education tools.

Mission:
Callaloo’s mission is to create, produce and distribute educational content that encourages literacy, cultural understanding and social awareness for children. Through our brand’s mission, Callaloo aims to empower all children to take pride in themselves and expand their horizons.

History:
Callaloo was created by DC artists and entrepreneurs, Marjuan Canady and Nabeeh Bilal. In 2012, Marjuan Canady began writing a collaborative folklore theatrical play entitled, Callaloo: A Jazz Folktale. Directed by Natalie Carter and featuring music from Trinidadian trumpet composer/musician, Etienne Charles, the show played at The Ellington Theatre in Washington, DC and the IATI Theatre (Off- Broadway) in New York City. The play was a workshop play at the 2013 Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Director’s Lab in New York City. In 2013, visual artist Nabeeh Bilal joined teams with Marjuan Canady and began self-publishing the first book in the series, titled, Callaloo: A Jazz Folktale. In under two years, Canady and Bilal have sold over thousands of books worldwide, performed live at festivals, schools and cultural arts institutions and produced their popular kids web-series How to with Callaloo.