It’s time to bring TRUE diversity to the toy aisle
My name is Yelitsa and I am a children’s illustrator from the Rhode Island School of Design. Growing up, I suffered from many insecurities about my skin color and hair texture. I was often told that in order to be beautiful you had to have long, flowing hair or fair skin. Not seeing many girls like me in the media didn’t help these issues. Today, only 8% of children’s books have main characters of color, but about 50% of children in the USA are of color.
These numbers don’t add up.
I created Healthy Roots to fill that void. Internalized racism and colorism stem from mainstream beauty standards that exclude women of color. The pressure that girls feel to appeal to mainstream beauty standards impacts their self esteem, leading them to use dangerous chemicals like perms and bleaching creams to become “beautiful.” Healthy Roots teaches girls of color self-love through education, diversity, and positive representation. If the toys we play with influence how we perceive ourselves, imagine the kind of impact we can have with a toy that aims to inspire and empower.
Meet the Healthy Roots girls
Healthy Roots is a doll + book series starring best friends Zoe, Dara, Gaiana and Marinda, girls from all different cultures and walks of life. These girls are much more than fashionistas. They are truly passionate about learning and creating good for others. Girls get to follow our characters’ journeys as they deal with insecurities while reading our storybooks.
As they read along, they learn about life and the many different cultures of the African Diaspora.
We go far beyond being just another black doll. Everyone deserves to be represented and no one should feel less than because of the color of their skin or the kink of their curl.
What’s Next?
This Kickstarter project is only the beginning! We will create a series of Healthy Roots dolls and storybooks. Healthy Roots is not just a doll. It is a social movement. Help us make it happen. Support today.
