13 thoughts on “my small tribute”

  1. I did hear that story! It made me laugh while breaking me heart. The things we learn as we watch parents buy things for their children.

    35 years ago, my aunt in rural Illinois bought her daughter the black baby doll that she wanted, mostly just to spite my racist great-aunt who lived in the same town. Now, my cousin is the proud mother of a Haitian boy.

    The only way we will change this world is if advantaged folks make their hearts vulnerable to the same hurts that disadvantaged folks have to face. What a fantastic example my cousin has offered me and the other members of her rural community.

  2. don’t have this radio program… could you just summarize what the story was?? I can’t figure out how to find that segment on the link you posted. Thanks.

  3. I love my little girl in red dress…she’s the first thing I see every morning…so bright, so hopeful, so sweet. Thank you for making such beautiful dolls of many colors, Mimi.

  4. My daughter, at four, desperately wanted a Barbie comforter, which I resolved to give her. The only one in stock had black Barbies amidst all that pink. I admit, I asked her if she was sure. Barbie’s Barbie, she explained to me. I was always interested to see which visitors were surprised, and which saw it the way my daughter did. But I never had a good answer to her real question, why couldn’t you have both black and white Baribies on the same quilt?

    lots of love
    Linda

  6. I was talking to a lady the other day who told her that if you just let kids be kids…they wouldn’t notice color of skin…except that it is a different color…and that’s it…we are all the same on the inside…I listened to the story and was as saddened as Elna at those mothers’ reactions.
    On a Brighter note…Love your dolls of the less whiter selections!!
    thanks for posting them today!

  7. I grew up in the 50s – at least, that the period I craved and played with dolls. I’m white, but I had at least a dozen black dolls, as they were my specific choice whenever I saw one, which wasn’t often. There was one doll I begged for endlessly, until she was delivered into my longing arms one Christmas morning. I remember my mother being amused by my preference, but embracing it as easily as she did the kids of colour I brought home as new friends. My dad was another story, but mom kept his lips zipped until she died. Only then, at age 49, did I discover my dad was an enormous bigot! Good job, mom…

  10. I have discovered your dolls and I love them. My grandmother although racist made me a brown skin doll when I was a small girl. I learned to respect and love people regardless of color of skin. Maybe she wanted something better for me then what she got as a little girl!
    I wanted to buy something from you and from what I understood if I bought two items i would get a big discount on the shipping. is this correct? It does not show on the check out system the discount! (I live in Portugal!)

  12. First I love the brown babies I have bought from you. Second when I heard the T.A.L. episode I wanted to throw up. It reminded me however of the topsy turvy dolls that were made with a white girl on one side and a black girl on the other. Story goes that they were made for black children on plantations by their mothers. The girls were not allowed to play with white dolls so their mom would make them a doll they could flip back and forth depending on who saw them playing. As half of a biracial couple I find this legacy interesting on another level, it says so much about what we teach our children about race and shame. I am happy to see your dedication to making our doll world look more like our human world in it’s multicolored beauty.

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