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He Started a Black Santa Agency

As a photographer at a mall Santa booth, Stafford Braxton saw a need for Santas of color

As told to Jennifer E. Mabry,

AARP

Published December 13, 2024

a bunch of people dressed up like santa claus

Stafford Braxton, center, with Santas with "Santas Just Like Me." Back row, from left: Joe Griffin, Maurice James, Warren Keyes and Fabian Williams.

Alex Boerner

It’s risky to tell a stranger, “You look like Santa Claus,” but I decided to take that risk. This was at Christmastime in 2012, and I was working as a photographer at a mall Santa booth — with a white Santa, as usual — when I glimpsed the kind of person I’d been looking for. He was African American, like me, with a white beard and a Santa-like physique. I ran off the set, approached the man and told him about the business idea I’d had.

As a photographer, I’d often had parents of color approach me during the holidays to ask whether we ever had a Black Santa. So I decided to start a Black Santa agency. I gave my business card to the Santa prospect and asked him to call me if he was interested, but I never heard from him. Then, five months later, I ran into him again — and he still had my card in his wallet.

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That was Warren Keyes, who became my first Santa. We’re still working together, though I’ve got seven Santas now — and I’m always looking for more. We do photo sessions at community and cultural centers and department stores in North Carolina, Virginia, Florida and California.

In some ways, our service is more for the parents than the children. These parents may have grown up without seeing themselves represented in popular Christmas shows and films. They just want their children to feel like they belong.

I remember one event at a church in Charlotte where I met a woman whose daughter and granddaughter had come to see us earlier that morning. When the grandma saw their pictures, she’d made a beeline for the church.

There were tears in her eyes. She told us that she was 72 years old and had never seen a Black Santa in person. She wanted her photo taken with him. By that point, I was crying. The Santa was trying to keep from crying. I focused my camera and took the photo. That woman is why we do this.

Stafford Braxton, 63, is a photographer in Huntersville, North Carolina, and the owner of the company Santas Just Like Me.

Journalist Jennifer E. Mabry, whose work has appeared in The New York Times and USA Today, among other outlets, is the author of the memoir Fighting to Be Seen: A Civil Rights Baby Reflects on Life in Post-Integration in America.