By Anita M. Samuels, New York Daily News (Tribune News Service)

Once upon a time, when Black girls played with fashionable Barbie dolls, the Barbies were little versions of white women — and Barbie stayed fashionable and white throughout the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s, the1960s, and the Black militancy of the 1970s.

But thanks in part to its efforts to culturally diversify its doll collections, Mattel — which debuted Barbie in 1959 — started to create Black Barbies in 1980. And the number of Black Barbie dolls nowadays is staggering. It has not always been this way.

The first White Barbie debuted in 1959. The first four Black dolls were not official Barbie dolls but rather Black friends of Barbie and her buddy Ken, who was also White. Over the years, these Black girlfriends included Francie in 1967, Christie in 1968, Julia — a doll based on the television show Julia, starring Diahann Carroll, in 1969 — and Cara in 1975. In 1980, nearly 21 years after introducing Barbie, Mattel unveiled its first official Black Barbie, (“She’s Black! She’s Beautiful! She’s Dynamite!” read the packaging of the doll).

Ken first came on the Barbie scene in 1961. The first Black male doll was Christie’s boyfriend, Brad, in 1970, followed by Curtis, Cara’s boyfriend, in 1975. In 1982, Sunsational Malibu Ken became the first official Black Ken doll.

Through the decades, there was an overall increase in Black dolls for Black girls, but it has been an evolution. In the beginning, there was effort on the part of toymakers, but it wasn’t enough. Black girls and their mothers were likely not satisfied with the initial efforts to create Black dolls simply by darkening the skin color of White dolls. The Black doll fans noticed that darkened White dolls had white facial features and dead-straight hair that was not ethnically accurate.

Today, Mattel seems to have cornered this market by creating Black Barbie dolls with culturally correct hair textures, facial features, skin complexions, different body types and even Black Barbie dolls with diverse disabilities and differences, including versions that have prosthetic limbs and skin conditions such as albinism and vitiligo.

This generation of Black Barbie dolls is also far more reflective of today’s career-minded Black women, inspiring girls of all races throughout the world. Black Barbie dolls are doctors, sports figures — such as tennis star Naomi Osaka — and role models, such as journalist, civil rights and women’s suffrage activist Ida B. Wells.

There are also special and limited-edition celebrity dolls, including Diana Ross, the members of Destiny’s Child — Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams — singer Brandy, trans actress Laverne Cox, and many more!

In addition, specially curated collections are sometimes available during Black History Month and are often developed by well-known Black designers and stylists who offer very realistic Black Barbie dolls who wear their makers’ original fashion creations. In 2020, Shioni Turini, the stylist for the film Queen & Slim, created a line of Black Barbies, as did the Harlem Fashion Row, which honored Black designers Anifa Mvuemba, Patrick Henry and Kimberly Goldson.

Even Black Ken Barbie dolls have been upgraded with images and professions that positively reflect today’s young Black male. The collection of Black Barbie dolls is extensive, and the creations are categorized as signature dolls while others are part of special collections.

Black Barbie — Inspiring Women

This series features a wide range of motivating women of all races to commemorate their contributions to society. In 2022, a doll honoring journalist, activist, suffragist and former slave Ida B. Wells was added to the collection, wearing a traditional dress of the time and holding a copy of the Memphis Free Speech newspaper, which she co-owned and edited. Other inspiring Black women included poet-author Maya Angelou, entrepreneur Madame C.J. Walker, award-winning filmmaker Ava Duvernay and NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson.

Black Barbie – Role Models

The impetus behind this assortment of Black Barbies is to let girls know that dreams are possible. In 2021, this series introduced a poseable Black Barbie doll of tennis champion Naomi Osaka, who won her first Grand Slam in 2013. In 2022, television and producer-writer Shonda Rhimes and British makeup artist Pat McGrath — creator of the PatMcgrath Labs makeup collection — were also honored with Barbie dolls. Aviator Bessie Coleman, the first African-American woman to earn a pilot’s license, got her Barbie just this January. Actress Yara Shahidi, ballerina Misty Copeland and Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas have been past subjects for Black Barbies.

Black Barbie Fashionistas

Fashionista Barbies can be male or female. These fashion-conscious Black Barbies have different body types, skin tones and even culturally identifiable accessories such as gold “bamboo” earrings. They often wear clothing that reflects current fashion trends of specific cities, such as Brooklyn, New York. There are Rubenesque Curvy Black Barbies with braided hair or realistic textured Afros. Even dolls that use wheelchairs or have other disabilities wear the latest styles. One Black Barbie who uses a wheelchair wears her hair in a trendy side-parted Afro. And Ken is fashionable too. One Black Ken doll with a dark complexion wears his hair in a braided bun.

Black Barbie – Careers

Mattel has gone beyond impressing young girls and boys with fashion-inspired Barbie dolls. Today’s Black Barbie and Ken dolls are depicted as professionals in all types of careers — including ice skating, photography, veterinary medicine, music production, surfing, boxing, space exploration, polar marine biology, aviation, nursing, dentistry, firefighting, and STEM professions.

Black Barbie Dolls of the World

An international array of dolls of color have become part of the Barbie assortment throughout the decades. They include “Princess of the Nile” Barbie, and others from Jamaica, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria and Morocco.

So far, Mattel has proven that Barbie is for everyone. Now, young Black girls and boys and other children of color can see dolls in their images, shown in the positive light that they deserve, which can inspire them to work toward careers in fields that disproportionately lack their presence in both race and gender.

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