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Kids' Decor Goes Multiracial!
Categories: Newborns, Babies, Environment, Kid Decor & Style
Picking out the right bedding and decor for a baby's room can be challenging enough in its own right, before you've even added the challenge of your new bundle of joy. For some, just picking between stars and fairies and safari animals can be a tough call. But what about when all the people depicted in the scenes of fun and frivolity are not the same color as you and your family? And what about when you look around you can't find ANY that are the same color?
One mom had such a problem, and faced the challenge head on with much success. Kisha Holt, a former teacher who is now also a mother of four in Miami, created Kisha's Kids, an online store with items for kids featuring faces of color. The site is intended to be one-stop shopping and offers everything from rugs, frames, lamps, pictures and more, all which feature faces of African-American children.
The items not only provide kids with likenesses of themselves, their seller's intention is to use them to help build self-esteem. The banner on the site reads "See yourself. Be yourself." Kudos to Kisha Holt for rising to meet the challenge in such a creative, constructive--and financially savvy--way! Her story reminds me very much of when I was a kid playing with my Barbies when it became pretty obvious to us that there was no Barbie of color. Later on, luckily, we were introduced to Christie dolls and Barbies of color. Now that we have a President (elect) of color, whose dolls are selling in their own right, I expect we'll see a lot more diversity in children's toys and everything else!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Katrina 12-23-2008 @ 12:32PM
Is this really even an issue? Not only did me and my friends have barbies, toys, etc of ALL racies, white, asian, black, etc, but i dont think ive been to any friends houses as a child where the entire kids rooms consisted of only one color of skin or culture
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SKL 12-23-2008 @ 12:59PM
My household is multiracial. We are South Asian, Latina, and Caucasion. I buy my kids a lot of things at dollslikeme.com, which is inclusive of not just a few races, but also biracial children. I strongly recommend this site.
I'm glad the stores make an attempt to cater to AA and CC families, but there are lots of kids that fall between the dark brown skin / black tight curls and the chalk-white skin / blond hair. I very rarely find a doll in a store that my kids would identify with.
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Kisha 12-23-2008 @ 6:34PM
Unfortunately, Katrina, this is an issue. I'm not sure where you grew up or where you found so many Asian, Black, White, etc. races because even today I rarely find such products. On those rare occasions when i do find them they are dolls. However, when you look at paintings and growth charts and rugs,etc etc. you will probably never see them depicting any other race than white. It's not that it's bad to have these things by any means. It's simply that it is so important that other races and ethnicities be represented as well. Browse on-line and see what you turn up. You may never have noticed how seldom others are represented. It may not seem like a big deal, but when a little Black child or Asian child, for example, start to question what is beautiful (of course we know that what is inside is more important but we cannot deny that we see beauty on the outside as well) and they only see people who don't look anything like them, they start to question their make-up. kisha's kids is a newly launched company which, as is stated on the homepage, plans to expand the line to include other races and ethnicities in 2009. African American was the initial focus because oftentimes it is good idea to start with what you know. Being an African-American mother of four African-American children, I felt that was a good place to start. We have a long way to go but believe we're off to a great start.
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Uly 12-23-2008 @ 8:21PM
Unfortunately, Katrina, it is an issue.
If I don't make an effort to get books for my nieces that feature (or even just show!) non-white characters, all their books will be white-only. Or animals who somehow act and speak just like mainstream (that is, white) Americans.
We have an alphabet book, Superhero ABC. 26 letters (sometimes more than one Superhero per letter). Approximately 20% of the US is black... so you'd expect to see at least four black heroes, right? Wrong. More like one, maybe two.
Another alphabet book we have features exactly *one* page with black people on it. Every other page - all white.
Another book, 1001 Things to Spot in Fairyland is has one or two non-white faces per page... and some pages don't even have that. All the fairies, of course, have straight hair. I have to spend time with my older niece, weekly, listening to her cry that she wants "straight hair, maybe blond, like a princess".
It really starts to get you down after a while.
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Patti 12-24-2008 @ 11:54AM
Visit www.ethidolls.com where they tell the stories of real African women rulers from history via illustrated story and audio books and design the authentic dolls that represent these remarkable women. Although the company's products celebrate African women leaders from history, these products are important for all young and young at heart girls. Culturally authentic, Makeda® The Queen of Sheba Doll's dress material was handwoven in Ethiopia in support of Fair Trade Principles and her neck tattoo is an adornment Ethiopian women still wear today. Queen Mother Yaa Asantewaa of the Asante (what is now modern day Ghana) wears the traditional style dress and design pattern of royal women in the late 1800s, lavish gold jewelry representing the Gold Coast of Africa (Ghana) and sports the traditional Ghanaian hair style of hair strands twisted with thread. And these real women leaders had remarkable life journeys. Makeda was the first woman ruler of Ethiopia over 3000 years ago and traveled from Ethiopia to Jerusalem to visit King Solomon. Queen Mother Yaa Asantewaa at the age of 60 in 1900 inspired her Asante countrymen to fight the British for their freedom and liberty. The products in EthiDolls' African Heritage Signature Collection are culturally authentic, educational, inspirational and fun.
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Maritza 12-24-2008 @ 3:00PM
im glad i heard of this because there arent many multi racial toys or decorartions out there. i was looking for some toys and other nice things to give to my neeces and nephews for christmas. but to every store i went there was only the same stuff. i want variety just like this kishas kids. i always wanted to have a dark doll like me wen i was litle n finally my mom found one i adored it! thats why i want to give them something diferent bcuz they always get the same plain white stuff. and now i can go somewhere i can buy diferent multiracial stuff for later on wen i have kids!
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