Barbie. Black History Edition.

I love history in general and Black history in particular.

I have been known to consume history in a non-conventional or non-academic way, often going down a rabbit hole after viewing a piece of art or ravenously consuming historical fiction.

It was still surprising when I connected to a wealth of Black history through Barbie dolls.

There are many different Barbie lines but the dolls based on historical figures are my absolute favorites. There is a special line called the Inspiring Women series. This is the line that causes me to start collecting dolls.

Recently a Tina Turner Barbie was released. She was able to work on and approve the doll before her death. Tina Turner was the first Black artist and the first woman to be on the cover of Rolling Stone.

Another doll from The Inspiring Women series is Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks was an activist known for refusing to give up her seat to a white man. Her actions contributed to the start of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

You’ve heard of Amelia Earhart but have you heard of Bessie Coleman aka Queen Bess?

Bessie Coleman was the first African American woman to earn her pilot's license in the U.S. She was known for performing flying tricks, which earned her the nickname “Brave Bessie”. She accomplished much in her short life.

One of the many attendees at Bessie Coleman funeral was Ida B Wells. Ida B Wells was an African American journalist who led an anti-lynching crusade in the United States in the 1890s. She fought against segregation and her campaign against violence and for equality laid the groundwork for the revolutionary Civil Rights Movement. One additional cool thing facts about her and that she was the true definition of a working mom. As she travelled and fought for justice she was also breastfeeding her baby.

Another Black woman who didn't let being a mom stop her from making history was Katherine Johnson. Immortalized in the film Hidden Figures and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, she was already a mother of three before she began working for The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. NACA became the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Katherine Johnson was one of the first African-American women to work as a NASA scientist. She calculated trajectories, launch windows, and emergency return paths for Project Mercury space flights, including those for astronaut Alan Shepard.

Did you know the first self-made female millionaire in America was an African American woman? Sarah Breedlove, aka Madam C.J. Walker. She rose from being a cotton picker and washerwoman to building a successful cosmetics business but she was also known for activism, philanthropy, and style.

Maya Angelou was another Black Woman who overcame seemingly impossible odds to having multi-hyphenate success as a singer, dancer, actress, composer, and Hollywood's first female black director. Born in 1928 Maya Angelou had to endure racism, poverty, and a horrific rape which left her unable to speak for five years. Among her other successes Maya Angelou was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2000 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2010. She won three Grammy Awards for her spoken-word albums. She was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). I love that her Barbie is holding her memoir “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”.

Another Black Grammy winner honored by Barbie is Ella Fitzgerald. Her 13 Grammy awards acknowledge that she is widely viewed as THE quintessential jazz singer. Beyond being a musical icon, Ella Fitzgerald, perhaps spurred on by her own experience of being a foster child, she was an advocate for children and made many donations to child welfare organizations.

To round it off Barbie created a Nichelle Nichols as Uhura from Star Trek. She was the first African American woman to play a lead role on television. She also worked with NASA to recruit minority and female personnel for their shuttle program.

These are all the dolls in my personal collection but there are many more historical Barbies. Three of them came out long before I started collecting and are extremely cost-prohibitive. However, in the future, I would love to own AKA Centennial Barbie and the Ava Duvernay Barbies.

With all the threats against DEI and the blows to affirmative actions, many brands no longer feel beholden to acknowledge Black History Month. It’s just begun but I can tell Black History Month will be very dry.

However, I do appreciate the bit of representation and education Mattel/Barbie has put into the world by creating these little pieces of history. After all every day is Black history.