When little girls are little, they want to look just like their moms. And so as a white mom of a black daughter, it is especially important for me to do everything I can to help Kira love her brown skin and her curly black hair, even if it is different from my long blonde hair. One of the ways that I can do this is by finding her black dolls to play with because when black children play with black dolls that reflect their beauty they develop a healthy and robust sense of self. But black dolls aren’t just for black kids – when white children play with black dolls they become familiar with racial and physical differences which is so important.
I love that there are more brown-skinned dolls on the market in South Africa these days – we recently discovered the gorgeous Buhle doll from the Sibahle Collection, designed by two local moms whose business model is to encourage black girls to embrace their natural beauty.
This is what mom bosses, Khulile Vilakazi-Ofosu and Caroline Hlala, have to say about their dolls, “Sibahle is a Zulu word that means ‘We are beautiful’. The Sibahle Collection was born out of a need to encourage our black children to be comfortable in their own skin. Our first doll is called Nobuhle, Buhle for short which is a Zulu name meaning ‘the one that represents beauty.’ Her hair is the most distinguishing feature of this doll. The child gets to experiment with the hair, wash it, care for it as their own hair. We hope the doll’s hair will teach our children how to take care of their own natural hair from a young age. Up until recently, the European market attempted to fill the gap for black dolls with western dolls just painted black with hair nothing like the typical African kinky hair.”
“The dolls under this collection have features that resemble more African children’s facial and body features. The flat nose, the fuller lips, the kinky hair, the dark skin, the more pronounced cheeks etc. We want our children to know that they are beautiful the way they are. The princess theme is meant to reassure our children that no matter what shade of black they are, in our eyes they are perfect African princesses!”
Kira just LOVES her new baby, Buhle. After she stopped sniffing the vanilla scent of the doll she said, ‘This baby looks like me, Mommy.’ I agree that it’s so important for little ones to see themselves
My daughter you are fearfully and wonderfully made and you deserve to grow up in a world where your beauty is celebrated and your brown skin is represented wherever you look. My girl, you are an African Princess just like Buhle.
You can purchase your own Buhle online here (sign up for the newsletter and get a 10% discount) or at selected Kids Emporium stores.
*This post was not sponsored, but Kira was sent a Buhle doll by the lovely ladies from Sibahle Collection.
Photography by the fabulous Sachi Saville.
This is such an important post. Thanks for writing.
Look at that gorgeous, happy face! She clearly loves her doll so much! ❤
My little person recently chose the Sal-Lee Barbie, over the actual lead Barbie from the movie Star Light Adventure, because “Sal-Lee is caramel like me mommy.”
With us as a family contemplating adoption, your posts are so encouraging and meaningful. Thank you for sharing. What a wonderful business this is!!
Thank you for sending out such an important message. Those dolls are so cute, not as cute as Kira, but pretty close.
I’ve nominated you for a Blogger Recognition Award. The link is on Twitter and Facebook or via my blog x
What a beautiful post. I admire how you encourage your children to embrace their ethnicity.