Thank you so much! I’m based in Lansing, Michigan. The photos are from my former bookshop space, Socialight Society, which closed in 2025. These days, we’re online, popping up, curating book drops, and still building around Black women, books, and belonging. 🖤
I can tell by the Cabbage Patch doll reference, I'm got a (few, lol) years on you. My mother made sure I had a Julia (Barbie collection) and a Beautiful Black Chrissy doll. Sadly, before then there were no choices. With an abundance of options now, I will soon bless my infant granddaughter with her first doll. Thanks for sharing!
I would have loved a Julia doll! And Beautiful Black Chrissy too. What a gift that your mother made sure you had them, especially when there were so few choices.
I collected porcelain dolls with my grandma, so dolls always feel tied to memory and care for me. How special that you get to bless your granddaughter with her first one. That feels like its own kind of legacy. 🖤
I appreciate your story and for sharing it. My sister's and I have a very similar story of my mother trying to find us black cabbage patch dolls and not finding any. My grandmother went out of her way to make us one when she found out there were one in the stores. That is a memory I will never forget, I wrote about it in a journal I published last year that was geared towards young girls who love dolls and prompting them to dream about creating their own.
Sadly as a self publishing author (and one with very little digital foot traffic & followers as myself) the book/journal didn't make any traction and that had me thinking that the idea just wasn't as great as I thought it was, but reading your story confirms for me that even if the journal didn't sell, the idea was valid. I watched "Black Barbie" on Netflix and was so amazed at how long it took for Barbie to have a black doll but also sad but not surprised to realize how un-important it was to the industry overall. Great article.
This idea was so valid, and I’m proud of you for putting it out there. Truly. Sometimes the work doesn’t meet the audience right away, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t needed.
I’m learning that timing is everything, and sometimes our ideas are meant for years later, when the language, the audience, and the moment finally catch up to what we already knew. I wonder if this is something your current audience would love to hear more about, especially now with Black Barbie opening up so many of these conversations again.
And your grandmother making those dolls? What a special kind of love. Thank you for sharing that memory with me.
So true, I have to admit that I didn't do a lot of marketing for it and know that I need to. It has been on my mind to create some marketing materials because I know that is where I dropped the ball at.
And like you I do know that our ideas can often be ahead of the times and energy of the moment they arrive in our spirit. I have an archive of thoughts and essays that I've written years ago that I never shared and kind of kick myself now for not putting them out there because now there are too many people speaking, writing, sharing the very same thoughts and ideas I had so long ago. But I also know that every idea/thought is not meant for us to share and that it is okay that someone else does.
I love what you’re building. 🤎💜🖤
Beautiful article! Where are you located?
Thank you so much! I’m based in Lansing, Michigan. The photos are from my former bookshop space, Socialight Society, which closed in 2025. These days, we’re online, popping up, curating book drops, and still building around Black women, books, and belonging. 🖤
I’m in the NJ/NY area. I hope to join an event of yours sometime! 🌟
I cannot wait to come visit! 🖤
So real and raw. Thanks for sharing your story.
I can tell by the Cabbage Patch doll reference, I'm got a (few, lol) years on you. My mother made sure I had a Julia (Barbie collection) and a Beautiful Black Chrissy doll. Sadly, before then there were no choices. With an abundance of options now, I will soon bless my infant granddaughter with her first doll. Thanks for sharing!
I would have loved a Julia doll! And Beautiful Black Chrissy too. What a gift that your mother made sure you had them, especially when there were so few choices.
I collected porcelain dolls with my grandma, so dolls always feel tied to memory and care for me. How special that you get to bless your granddaughter with her first one. That feels like its own kind of legacy. 🖤
I appreciate your story and for sharing it. My sister's and I have a very similar story of my mother trying to find us black cabbage patch dolls and not finding any. My grandmother went out of her way to make us one when she found out there were one in the stores. That is a memory I will never forget, I wrote about it in a journal I published last year that was geared towards young girls who love dolls and prompting them to dream about creating their own.
Sadly as a self publishing author (and one with very little digital foot traffic & followers as myself) the book/journal didn't make any traction and that had me thinking that the idea just wasn't as great as I thought it was, but reading your story confirms for me that even if the journal didn't sell, the idea was valid. I watched "Black Barbie" on Netflix and was so amazed at how long it took for Barbie to have a black doll but also sad but not surprised to realize how un-important it was to the industry overall. Great article.
This idea was so valid, and I’m proud of you for putting it out there. Truly. Sometimes the work doesn’t meet the audience right away, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t needed.
I’m learning that timing is everything, and sometimes our ideas are meant for years later, when the language, the audience, and the moment finally catch up to what we already knew. I wonder if this is something your current audience would love to hear more about, especially now with Black Barbie opening up so many of these conversations again.
And your grandmother making those dolls? What a special kind of love. Thank you for sharing that memory with me.
So true, I have to admit that I didn't do a lot of marketing for it and know that I need to. It has been on my mind to create some marketing materials because I know that is where I dropped the ball at.
And like you I do know that our ideas can often be ahead of the times and energy of the moment they arrive in our spirit. I have an archive of thoughts and essays that I've written years ago that I never shared and kind of kick myself now for not putting them out there because now there are too many people speaking, writing, sharing the very same thoughts and ideas I had so long ago. But I also know that every idea/thought is not meant for us to share and that it is okay that someone else does.
Thank you for your encouraging words.