“Tis the season to be dolly!” claimed the Black Doll Affair, a social club that promotes pride and self-esteem among little black girls and their mothers, Saturday, Dec. 14 at its annual Doll Delivery event at Macy’s Greenbriar Mall in Atlanta, Ga.
At the event, each little girl, ages 3 to 11, was treated to a free black doll. Celebrating the Black Doll Affair’s sixth birthday, the volunteer “Baby Dolls” partied with a purpose by spending time with living black dolls and bonding.
“Today, what we’re doing here, as we do every Christmas, is [share] a message with little girls and their moms,” offers Dana “Mama Doll” Hill, founder of The Black Doll Affair. “When we first started, it was all about donating dolls to little girls, but we’d show up to parties like these and moms would tell their daughters, ‘No, don’t choose that doll, it’s too dark.’ This event is to inform moms. Our idea is to change the way black women are perceived and perceive themselves. Our Black Dolls are seen in public, ‘being a doll’ and doing good work. It’s an effort to counteract the perception of black women pulling each other’s hair out and calling each other the B-word on TV.”
The little girls couldn’t have been more excited to enter a pop-up store filled with collectible dolls and Christmas cheer. As they walked in, the excited group understood firsthand the art of being appreciative and appreciated.
With special thanks to congressman John Lewis, The Black Doll Affair has its own day in the state of Georgia, which is December 12. A few years ago, President Barack Obama invited BDA to the White House to receive a Volunteer Service Award for their service.
