Black Santas In High Demand For The Holidays

“I was looking for an African-American Santa Claus for my African-American grandson,” says Mickens when I talk to her at South Dekalb Mall.

Mickens couldn’t find many African-American Santas for her 7-month old grandson’s holiday pictures.

“Well actually, I went to Southlake, Northlake – they told me to come to South Dekalb Mall, so I’m here,” says Mickens.

Sarah Hobbs heard about the Santa here from a family member.

As soon as she found out she brought her 10-month old daughter for her first Christmas picture because, she says, this is important to her.  

“So she can see someone that looks like her because in the mainstream media most of the Santas are not African-American – they’re white,” says Hobbs. “So, I wanted her to see that Santa can also be African-American.”

With so few black Santas in the city, word travels fast.

“You have the Kente cloth one at West End and I know there’s one at Stonecrest, but I was told that one wasn’t as great so I came here (laughs) I’m just being honest,” says Hobbs. “So I came to South Dekalb because they said that he was a good Santa.”

Skip Osborne is Kente Claus, he’s been working at the West End Mall for 12 years.

“The Kente Santa is the Santa that is more related to the black community,” says Osborne.

On a weekday afternoon, Kente’s wearing what looks like a stylish suit made of red velvet – he also has a matching red and black hat.

Osborne says he wears a lot of different outfits during the holiday season, and they’re all custom made.  

“It’s a lot of kids out here struggling and it’s a lot of families out here struggling. The only way to really see where Black America is today is to actually come down to a location like the West End,” says Osborne.

At the Georgia International Convention Center, another Santa arrives in a room of over 300 kids.

Santa Dee rides into the room on a Segway wearing a typical Santa outfit with a red coat and black boots – his big white beard contrasts with his dark brown skin.

Sinclair is  here as part of Holidays at Hartsfield-Jackson, an annual Christmas event for first-graders.

“This particular show that we’re at now - Hartsfield airport – I’ve been doing it 13 years,” says Sinclair. “I have families that are looking for me and if I put myself in public appearances they’ll be there.”

Sinclair used to work as Santa at several local malls, but left after a few years because of “creative differences”.

Now he has his own company, The Real Black Santa, where he mostly does private events at schools, office parties and retirement homes.

“I’ve always owned my own business from landscaping to cleaning,” says Sinclair. “So, when I started doing Santa I wanted to make sure it was something that stood out.”

Sinclair charges $250 for an hour and says in past years he’s made up to $60,000 during the holiday season.

His grand plan is to create a national network of Santas from all ethnicities, and next year he wants to do a casting call.

Booking agent Steph Seibert might be interested in Sinclair’s idea.

“I know of about five of the African-American Santas in the area and I have reached out to some of them before  and pretty much what I’m finding is they, I mean, booked solid to the point where they’ve got two to three gigs per day,” says Seibert.

Seibert is the owner of Atlantas Santas and for the past six years she’s booked local Santas for everything from corporate parties to photo shoots – even a Fleetwood Mac concert.

She says the city’s Santa business is thriving.

“Here in metro Atlanta I would say it’s pretty big. Pretty much most Santas, at least the first two weekends, are usually booked solid,” says Seibert.

Seibert says most Santas make anywhere from a few hundred bucks to a couple thousand dollars during the holidays.

You can find African-American Santas at South Dekalb, Greenbriar and West End malls until Christmas Eve.