Today we’re chatting with Dana Hill, the founder of The Black Doll Affair.
On December 17, 2007, after witnessing a "Doll Test" on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dana was inspired to create The Black Doll Affair. The infamous “Doll Tests” from the documentary “A Girl Like Me” showed that black children associated black dolls with being “bad” and “ugly” and made it clear that they preferred white dolls, which they deemed “pretty” and “good.”
The Black Doll Affair is a philanthropic organization and self-esteem movement for black girls and women to re-establish their self-esteem, self-image and worth in a society where black women are all too often the lowest on the totem pole.
Connecting your worthiness to the colour or shade of your skin is a huge problem that is ongoing today especially when it comes to black children. In our conversation with Dana you’ll hear why this issue is so complicated and what we can do to change it.
As Dana says, The Black Doll Affair is not just about the color of your skin, it’s about loving the color of your skin, no matter what shade of black. It’s about self-esteem in hue. It’s about feeling good the way you were born – dark or light. It’s about girls and women conquering self-defeating, self-limiting thought patterns of ‘I’m not good enough because I was born a black girl.' It’s about loving who you are!!!
Some of the topics we cover:
1. What is The Black Doll Affair and what does it do?
2. Why are black children still picking the white dolls?
3. What happens when you give a black child a black doll? Why is it important?
4. Is it making a difference?
5. What more could we do?
6. Where do you see progress?
7. Why is it also important for white women to get involved?
8. How do we get involved? How do we help?
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Learn more about Dana Hill and The Black Doll Affair
Website: https://blackdollaffair.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackdollaffair/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/blackdollaffair
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-mama-doll-hill