The Legend Behind The Original Black Mermaid Everyone Should Know
Black History Year
PushBlack
4.6 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 31 January 2025
⏱️ 4 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This “Little Mermaid” has been around for thousands of years — and we’re not talking about Halle Bailey or Disney’s whitewashed Ariel! SHE is the true Queen of the Sea, proving mermaids have ALWAYS been Black!
_____________
2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to amplify the stories of Black history you didn't learn in school. You make PushBlack happen with your contributions at BlackHistoryYear.com — most people donate $10 a month, but every dollar makes a difference. If this episode moved you, share it with your people! Thanks for supporting the work.
The production team for this podcast includes Cydney Smith, Len Webb, and Lilly Workneh. Our editors are Lance John and Avery Phillips from Gifted Sounds Network. Julian Walker serves as executive producer.
To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This episode is brought to you by Thought Park. |
| 0:03.0 | Are you ready for Europe's top scare events? |
| 0:06.0 | Fright Nights at Thought Park is now on, |
| 0:09.0 | with thrilling rides in the dark, including Hyperia, |
| 0:13.0 | the UK's tallest and fastest roller coaster, |
| 0:16.0 | soul-sucking scare mazes, devilishly daring scare zones, |
| 0:20.0 | and hell-raising shows. |
| 0:22.7 | They're here. |
| 0:24.1 | Fright Nights at Thorpe Park, the Home of Fear. |
| 0:27.3 | Book now at thoughtpark.com. |
| 0:33.5 | This little mermaid has been around for thousands of years and we're not talking about |
| 0:38.4 | Hallie Bailey or Disney's whitewashed Ariel. |
| 0:42.8 | She is the true queen of the sea, proving mermaids have always been black. |
| 0:49.7 | This is two-minute black history, What You Didn't Learn in School. |
| 0:57.0 | Recently, Disney's live action The Little Mermaid trailer dropped. |
| 1:05.0 | There was Hallie Bailey playing Ariel, a black princess. |
| 1:10.0 | But while we celebrated a whole new level of white jealousy showed itself. |
| 1:20.6 | Within hours, the trailer had 1.5 million dislikes on YouTube. |
| 1:33.7 | Across social media was the hashtag Not My Arell with white supremacists claiming Disney was causing |
| 1:40.7 | white erasure. |
| 1:42.9 | Disney's original Little Mermaid is based on a Danish fairy tale by Hans |
| 1:47.4 | Anderson, so white supremacist stated white Ariel is historically accurate. Ironically, the mermaid |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from PushBlack, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of PushBlack and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.