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Kola_boof
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Kola_boof
Post Number: 2745
Registered: 02-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, August 06, 2006 - 08:55 pm: | 
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Originally posted by TONYA.
City teen's film shows racial rift
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/441270p-371641c.html
BY ERIN EINHORN
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
The camera zooms in on a sweet-faced Harlem girl, about 5 years old with her tightly braided hair pulled back, as she's asked to identify "the doll that looks bad."
She examines the white doll and black doll in front of her - identical except for their color - and tentatively chooses the black doll. It's bad, she says, "because this is black."
The "nice" doll is nice "because she's white," the black girl says.
And which doll, she is asked, is the doll that looks like you?
The camera then settles on her young, serious face as she slowly slides the black doll forward.
"People are just amazed," said Kiri Davis, 17, the Manhattan public school student whose powerful short film about race, self-esteem and cultural identity has stunned audiences and educators, and won the hearts of film festival judges around the nation. "Even at 4 and 5, you can still tell what America values and what it doesn't."
Fifteen of the 21 black children in a Harlem day care center who take the "doll test" in Davis' seven-minute film choose the white doll over the black one.
The film - "A Girl Like Me" - re-creates Kenneth Clark's 1940s doll test that was used to fight school segregation in the landmark Supreme Court case Brown vs. Board of Education. In Clark's studies, he and his wife, Mamie Clark, found that the majority of black children they tested chose white dolls over black dolls and ascribed negative attributes to black dolls.
Five decades later, Davis, a senior at Manhattan's Urban Academy High School, assumed things had improved - especially in black cultural meccas like Harlem.
But her film, punctuated with black teen girls discussing their relationships with their skin, their hair and their community, illustrates how the converse is true. Her study was conducted in 2005.
"You can tell someone all you want about standards of beauty and how they're affecting someone's self esteem and yada yada yada," Davis said. "But until you figure out a way to actually show someone, that's when I think people really get the message."
A "Girl Like Me" was produced through Reel Works Teen Filmmaking, a nonprofit organization based in Brooklyn's Prospect Park YMCA that paired Davis with a mentor, taught her basic skills and then helped her to market her film.
The driven filmmaker made a splash this summer at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film also won the audience award at the Silverdocs festival in Silver Spring, Md., and the Diversity Award from Media that Matters, a nonprofit Internet and traveling festival that screens films about social issues.
The film has made a mark in the educational world where it has been shown to grad students at the Bank Street College of Education and to administrators in the city Education Department. It may have had its most significant effect at Boys and Girls Harbor, the organization that granted Davis access to kids in Harlem.
There, teachers are rethinking their curriculum and educational approach. When Bernadette Wallace, the director of pre- and after-school services, screened the film for her staff, she said, "Some of my teachers had tears in their eyes. They couldn't believe it."
Originally published on August 6, 2006
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Kola_boof
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Kola_boof
Post Number: 2746
Registered: 02-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, August 06, 2006 - 08:56 pm: |
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This is so vitally important.
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Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 245
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, August 06, 2006 - 09:35 pm: |
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Thanks Kola. I've been up all weekend and so I'm slipping, lol.
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Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 5760
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 07, 2006 - 01:48 pm: |
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Kola,
The incident described above in the article hit home about a year ago.
I took my youngest daughter, then 10 years old, to a toy store to buy her a birthday present. We're in the HUMONGOUS doll section of the store. And she's having a hell of a time deciding what kind of doll she wants.
Finally, I begin to tire of the doll shopping and just grab up 2 or 3 Black Barbie-size dolls and ask her to pick one. My daughter rejected them. I asked her why she doesn’t want any of them.
And she let slip "They're too Black."
*GASP*
You can imagine how heartbroken I was. I mean, my wife and I have invested A LOT of time and effort into encouraging our kids to love and embrace Blackness. And we’ve SPECIFICALLY tried to deal with the White-Black doll issue.
The instant it slipped from her mouth, she tried to retract what she’d said. But I was so pissed, I grabbed her and stormed from the store.
What's complicated is she does NOT want or like White dolls. She's even rejected White dolls that were given to her by friends and relatives.
What she wanted and was looking for your more ‘Beyonce’ looking type doll.
We talked with her about it. And we THINK she better understands why I was disappointed with her.
But that incident helped my wife and me to realize just how subtle the effects of colorism can be. And that they can manifest EVEN when you have made the most earnest efforts to thwart them. |
Va_sis
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Va_sis
Post Number: 104
Registered: 02-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 07, 2006 - 02:04 pm: |
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Abm,
i SYMPATHIZE with you & my heart goes out to you. it truly does.
how far reaching do you think her "preference for Beyonce" is? will it stop at dolls? will it extend into how she treats her peers?
it makes you wonder if we, as parents, are doing "enough", or if what we do will ever be effective at all? |
Kola_boof
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Kola_boof
Post Number: 2765
Registered: 02-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 07, 2006 - 02:07 pm: |
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Fantastic post, ABM.
A similar thing happened with my "sister" when I purchased an "Afro" Barbie for her daughter (my niece).
My niece loved the doll, but my sister thought it was too black looking. She buys her daughter both white and black dolls, but there's a fixation on the white ones. I was so hurt that my sister derided the "Afro" Barbie (which cost me $270 Custom from the Barbie Manufacturing Plant). And I never saw that doll at their house again.
Additionally:
Through all that we've dealt with on Race Issues in this country--we almost always explore "Racism" through the prism of the Black Male.
The black female, who is not even welcome in our community (BEYONCE is, however)---is the greatest receptor of Racism, because--it's her womb that produces Black Men.
So she is strategically REMOVED by the White Power structure (they teach US to remove her), and though the Darkest Man is publicly celebrated as "the black man"---note that the mulatto women are USED/MANIPULATED into being his BRIDGE OUT OF BLACKNESS.
That's what the whole black doll thing is about.
ABM--until we, collectively, as Black people--stand up and fight for the Blackest Woman (and this is why I use the militant term "Authentic Black Woman")---nothing we do will prosper, and we will continually lose all connection to our coloring, our culture and to our homeland (Africa).
They did this same exact thing in North Africa over a two thousand year period. They create a "mixed-blood" BUFFER race, and then when those people reach high enough numbers---they assist the Whites in EJECTING the Black Man from his own identity. Black men (Othello) supported it in North Africa---and now they are extinct.
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Kola_boof
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Kola_boof
Post Number: 2766
Registered: 02-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 07, 2006 - 02:11 pm: |
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NOTE: I was not suggesting that Beyonce isn't black---I was referring to her "blond Latina look" and light skin and what the image means for all "Blacks".
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Sabiana
Regular Poster
Username: Sabiana
Post Number: 34
Registered: 08-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 07, 2006 - 02:25 pm: |
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NOTE: I was not suggesting that Beyonce isn't black---I was referring to her "blond Latina look" and light skin and what the image means for all "Blacks".
This is something I agree with. Have you ever seen a black woman born with blond hair, even in Africa? The Big Music producers to me, find her to be a non-threating black woman, easy enough to sell to mainstream culture. I would like her if she stop with all the damn blond weave! It's sending a message to young black girls who look up to her "it's okay to hate yourselves", "a white woman is superior to to you, look at me." I like Kelly Rowland better, flawless chocolate skin and a blond weave (so far) has never graced her head. Her and India Arie. Amel. Jill Scott. I think looking at these women all have a positive image for young black women. |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 5761
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 07, 2006 - 03:07 pm: |
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Va_sis,
Thanks.
My kids pretty levelheaded. But she's still a young girl who's very much effected by what she witnesses.
And hey. All the world is Beyonce, right now. I think it's very difficult for many young Black girl to avoid idolizing what she (appear to) represent.
We do the best we can. We talk to our daughther A LOT about self-image and self-love. We've attempted to dispell the myths and legends. And we provide a warm, loving and reassuring home/family life for them.
But there's only so much that even the most attentive parenting can do. Ultimately, they've got to struggle with finding their own place in the world. |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 5763
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 07, 2006 - 03:09 pm: |
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Sabiana,
Both of my daughters SAY they like Kelly better than Beyonce.
Which of those 2 ladies they'd prefer to BE is, perhaps, a different matter altogether. |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 5764
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: 
Votes: 2 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 07, 2006 - 03:26 pm: |
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Kola,
Ain't your sister too dayam grown to be doing THAT kinda shyt? Really. You 'bout owe her an a$$whippin' for her mistreating that doll.
Hahahaha!!!
You know, part of the issue with my kid was not just the color of the doll. It's the dreaded HAIR issue.
Because my daughter wanted the lightskinned Black dolls because you can more closely style their hair like the White Barbie.
She's being subtly taught to NOT appreciate more closely African/Black hair texture and styling.
She's smart enuff to KNOW what we're referring to. But all the media, most the women she sees, know and love perm, straighten and artificially extend their hair.
So, like in the real world, my kid's got this thing going on inside of her where she wants her doll to be Black, but in White-like ways.
Honestly, I think A LOT of Black women want to be that and lots of Black men want their women as such.
I think my daughters doll issue is an earnest manifestation of our very real color ambiguities.
I agree we must begin to embrace, uplift and glorify the beauty of our darkest Black women. Because they truly are the fountain from which all the rest of spring forth.
PS: The "Othello" reference is just FANTASTIC. |
Kola_boof
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Kola_boof
Post Number: 2768
Registered: 02-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 07, 2006 - 05:17 pm: |
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ABM,
I am KOLA BOOF and just like your daughter, I am affected and compromised by the media conditioning---no black woman can escape it.
And if you do escape, the PRICE is that you are invisible and completely ALONE.
Anyone can look at my own photos and see that I do just what your daughter does...I make myself into a kind of BLACK DOLL that is just European enough, just...long-haired and Hollywood enough...to be the "Underground" version of Beyonce if you will. My image only HINTS at what I am trying to bring about.
As you stated recently---We, as a people, have been defeated.
And without the black man to BACK the black woman in her fight---she hasn't the strength to stand up for herself COMPLETELY.
This is why I have endeavored to give birth to a new son.
The ONE blessing your girls have is that they are that minor group of escaped the STATISTIC of having no father......and not only that, they have a Father (like my dad in my autobiography) who is AFFIRMING their natural God-given worth and esteem.
It seems very small right now, ABM---but many years from now, all that you are putting inside your daughters will....will someday save them.
I know, because my adopted dad was very much like you.
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Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 256
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, August 08, 2006 - 02:27 pm: |
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A Girl Like Me
7:08 min
CLICK HERE TO WATCH FILM:
http://www.mediathatmattersfest.org/6/a_girl_like_me/
Youth Documentary
Kiri Davis, Director, Reel Works Teen Filmmaking, Producer
Winner of the Diversity Award
Sponsored by Third Millennium Foundation
ABOUT THE FILM
More About A Girl Like Me from Director Kiri Davis
For my high-school literature class I was constructing an anthology with a wide range of different stories that I believed reflected the black girl’s experience. For the different chapters, I conducted interviews with a variety of black girls in my high school, and a number of issues surfaced concerning the standards of beauty imposed on today’s black girls and how this affects their self-image. I thought this topic would make an interesting film and so when I was accepted into the Reel Works Teen Filmmaking program, I set out to explore these issues. I also decided to would reconduct the “doll test” initially conducted by Dr. Kenneth Clark, which was used in the historic desegregation case, Brown vs. Board of Education. I thought that by including this experiment in my film, I would shed new light on how society affects black children today and how little has actually changed.
With help from my mentor, Shola Lynch, and thanks to the honesty and openness of the girls I interviewed, I was able to complete my first documentary in the fall of 2005. I learned that giving the girls an opportunity to talk about these issues and their experiences helped us all to look deeper and examine the many things in society that affect us and shape who we are. |
Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 279
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, August 11, 2006 - 07:22 pm: |
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The light-skinned/dark-skinned conflict, straight vs. kinky hair conflicts that many Baby Boomer black Americans thought were left behind after the ‘60s and ‘70s clearly are still at play.
--BlackAmericaWeb.com
http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/bawnews/dolltest809
This evidence is sure to produce a second wave of concern, but I am not so sure it is right to be concerned because I do not believe, nor have I ever seen evidence, that white people actually believe that they have superior looks. . . .What I find most interesting and provocative about "A Girl Like Me" is that young black women feel that they suffer from stereotypes about being "loud, obnoxious and less than intelligent." When one steps away from the news, "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and any of the true-crime documentaries (which always feature a wide array of minorities in law enforcement), it is easy to see how those stereotypes are not only held in place but continually projected. Black entertainers, like those spewed from the world of hip hop, are maintaining a strong lead when it comes to proving that minstrelsy is an equal-opportunity endeavor.
--Stanley Crouch New York Daily News
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ideas_opinions/story/442089p-372363c.html
My opinion Stanley Crouch: http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/141561
I think this is something of a condmenation of our society. Our society teaches children as young as 5 years old to consider black skin "bad" and white skin "nice." The MLW diary's author links this to the complete abandonment of black Americans after Katrina hit, which at the time I felt showed quite starkly that the Bush Administration cared not one whit for blacks. Together, these two snapshots of blacks in America really show that our society has not escaped racism. I have always felt that until our society can face up to our slave past we will have a hard time overcoming racism in America.
--Culturekitchen.com
http://www.culturekitchen.com/mole333/blog/deep_deep_racism_in_american_culture_ the_doll_t |
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