Baller Alert Entertainment & Lifestyle
Like many children of color, Aniqua Wilkerson never questioned why her dolls didn’t look liked her — but she did know something wasn’t right.
Wilkerson spent most of her childhood playing with a white, blue-eyed baby doll until she turned 8, and a family friend gave her a black doll as a gift.
The doll immediately changed Wilkerson’s perception. “Something clicked immediately in my brain that this doll was different,” Wilkerson told People.
“There’s something to be said about seeing yourself in something that you love,” she said. “There is an extra aspect of being excited, proud, and feeling valued.”
Wilkerson decided to inspire other children of color by creating crochet dolls that could empower them. But during her search for materials, she found that the world of fiber arts was predominantly white.
Most yarn companies only carried a limited variety of shades of brown yarn. Wilkerson had to mix various yarns to create one doll.
“Yarn colors were ashy, or a little grey, dull and almost like a zombie’s skin tone,” Wilkerson revealed. “It was a huge challenge trying to gather accurate shades that would actually resemble a Black or brown person.”
She created her own online site via Etsy called “My Kinda Thing,” which features crochet dolls of color in different imaginative outfits and professions, representing a wide variety of people. From ballerinas and doctors to military officers. Her goal is to build up the confidence of black and brown children and help them combat self-hate.
Now Wilkerson has teamed up with Lion Brand Yarn Company to create “Skein Tones,” a palette of 12 acrylic yarns in neutral shades of browns, creams, and taupes, including varieties aptly titled like honey, cedarwood, cocoa, and nutmeg.
Wilkerson’s partnership with Skein Tones has already helped her be more enterprising with her doll designs, and now she wants other artists and creators to feel inspired to create art and toys that people of all races can enjoy.
“Being a Black person doesn’t always mean your skin is one shade of brown,” Wilkerson stated. “It makes me proud when a parent tells me their daughter sees themselves in my dolls … that feeling is super, super important.”
