Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers showcases ‘Black Barbie’ documentary
BOWLING GREEN, Ky.- It’s no secret that Barbie is becoming more diverse by the day, but, as we all know, Barbie wasn’t always this way.
Many know that Barbie began as a blonde hair blue-eyed doll, but it wasn’t until 1980 that Ruth Handler, the founder of Barbie and Beulah Mitchell, came up with the idea of Black Barbie.
The Western Kentucky University Department of History displayed this profound moment as an act of revolution and it is now being brought to many cities as a documentary to do more than tell a story. It was created to give people of color the chance to feel seen.
Amirah Saafir, the research consultant and designer with the Black Barbie Documentary, says she grew up playing with Black Barbies, and she knows the positive impacts it had on her.
She says, “Black Barbie being on the scene is a major contributor to how kids see themselves. I think that they will relate to the things that are being said, and I think they’ll learn a lot. Everyone will be impacted by it. I feel like it’s even more powerful in a place that’s not predominately black, because that’s especially where this message of representation needs to be seen. ”
