Black Doll White Doll
I remember as a child, my dad had us regularly watching a T.V. show called "The 21st Century with Walter Cronkite." They narrated an excerpt of one of the most shocking documentary films that I had watched as a child, called the Black Doll White Doll studies. What first grabbed my attention, was watching Kenneth and Mamie Clarke, as they explained their research. This was the very first time that I had ever encountered scientists that looked like me or my Dad and Mom! So this documentary challenged my preconception that only Caucasoids were authority figures. After being subjected to so much hostility, growing up as a child who's dad was in the Air force, and living and going to school in predominantly caucasian environments, as a children, I was so impressed to see Malcolm X, The Black Panthers, Thurgood Marshall, Andrew Young, Sen. Julian Bond, Assata Shakur, Dr. Martin L. King and Coretta Scott King and Shirley Chisholm in the Civil Rights Movement.
I remember how disturbing it was to see children prefer and choose non-Black dolls, time after time, when asked “who is prettier?” “Who is smart?” “Who is good?” Yet when they identified with themselves, they chose a black doll and they had such a disturbed look on their faces when they were asked to identify the dolls that looked like them, afterward. I remember Black dolls and Teddy bears among many things i had to play with as a child. I do recall playing with one long haired Hispanic doll. I also remember seeing a boy doll with a Mohawk hairstyle as a display.
The Doll study documentary was painful to watch. Even as a child, I was left with the impression that a profound imprint of self-hatred was present in very young Black children, and hatefulness and fear of Black Children and Black skinned adults in the minds of Caucasian adults and youth of other ethnicities, were marked on the psyche of all young children at birth.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_and_Mamie_Clark
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| Mamie Clark |
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| Clark Doll Experiment |
I remember how disturbing it was to see children prefer and choose non-Black dolls, time after time, when asked “who is prettier?” “Who is smart?” “Who is good?” Yet when they identified with themselves, they chose a black doll and they had such a disturbed look on their faces when they were asked to identify the dolls that looked like them, afterward. I remember Black dolls and Teddy bears among many things i had to play with as a child. I do recall playing with one long haired Hispanic doll. I also remember seeing a boy doll with a Mohawk hairstyle as a display.
The Doll study documentary was painful to watch. Even as a child, I was left with the impression that a profound imprint of self-hatred was present in very young Black children, and hatefulness and fear of Black Children and Black skinned adults in the minds of Caucasian adults and youth of other ethnicities, were marked on the psyche of all young children at birth.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_and_Mamie_Clark
Doll experiment
The Clarks' doll experiments grew out of Mamie Clark's master's degree thesis. They published three major papers between 1939 and 1940 on children's self-perception related to race. Their studies found contrasts among African-American children attending segregated schools in Washington, DC versus those in integrated schools in New York. The doll experiment involved a child being presented with two dolls. Both of these dolls were completely identical except for the skin and hair color. One doll was white with yellow hair, while the other was brown with black hair. The child was then asked questions inquiring as to which one is the doll they would play with, which one is the nice doll, which one looks bad, which one has the nicer color, etc. The experiment showed a clear preference for the white doll among all children in the study. These findings exposed internalized racism in African-American children, self-hatred that was more acute among children attending segregated schools. This research also paved the way for an increase in psychological research into areas of self-esteem and self-concept.
This work suggests that by its very nature, segregation harms children and, by extension, society at large, a suggestion that was exploited in several legal battles. The Clarks testified as expert witnesses in several school desegregation cases, including Briggs v. Elliott, which was later combined into the famous Brown v. Board of Education (1954). In 1954, Clark and Isidor Chein wrote a brief whose purpose was to supply evidence in the Brown v. Board of Education case underlining the damaging effects racial segregation had on African-American children. The Supreme Court declared that separate but equal in education was unconstitutional because it resulted in African American children having “a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community" This ended segregation in the public school systems. Regarding Brown, this question of psychological and psychic harm fit into a very particular historical window that allowed it to have formal traction in the first place. It wasn’t until a few decades prior (with the coming of Boas and other cultural anthropologists) that cultural and/ or social science research—and the questions that they invoked—would even be consulted by the courts and therefore able to influence decisions.
In 2005 filmmaker Kiri Davis recreated the doll study and documented it in a film entitled A Girl Like Me. Despite the many changes in some parts of society, Davis found the same results as did the Drs. Clark in their study of the late 1930s and early 1940s. In the original experiment(s) the majority of the children chose the white doll. When Davis repeated the experiment 15 out of 21 children also chose the white dolls over the black, giving similar reasons as the original subjects, associating white with being "pretty" or "good" and black with "ugly" or "bad". The dolls used in the documentary were identical except for skin color.
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| State Sen. Julian Bond |
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| Tuskegee Airmen |
Being a Daughter of a Father with an Air Force career, we were stationed in many places in the US as well as Europe. I still recall being painfully teased, called "nigger" and bullied for my hair and complexion while in school, and how the teachers were often complicit with the students. I wore an Afro and as I rode the bus, students would spit and throw chewing gum in my hair. I remembered crying myself to sleep many nights. Then one day I looked in the mirror and told myself that I was created in the image of God and that everything God created was Good. So I thought that there must have been a special reason that my hair, skin, and body shape was made. I learned to embrace and accept myself naturally. My mother would try to hot comb my hair. She would say, "let me get into this kitchen". But I would sweat it out very quickly riding my bike or jumping rope. I preferred to wear natural Afro. The Black power movement and images were strong, way back in the 60s. I loved the Panthers. I use to think that people who wore their hair naturally, in braids, an Afro or coils of lox were very "cool", conscious and powerful. These youth images became my circle of influence. I respected the Black Panthers, Assata Shakur, Nina Simone, and Jimi Hendrix And Senator Shirley Chisholm- in her curly Afro. I remember Stevie Wonder's Song about Black history. But I was not exposed To Black history from my teachers in the many schools that I attended, who were non-black.
It was brought to my attention that the Clarks used their Experiments to justify Integration into public access in the School systems and housing. To think that Caucasians felt relatively safe with Indigo African people because they preferred and sympathized with Caucasians over their own people who were continually oppressed.
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| Another related issue of race supremacy is Cognitive Dissonance. Dr. Frantz Fanon shared a famous quote: |
One is *Maafa Syndrome - Noted from the cruel plantation system treatment of enslaved and imprisoned Melanin Peoples from the 18th Century, and presently.
*Maafa is a Swahili word for "terrible disaster."
*POST TRAUMATIC SLAVE SYNDROME
As a result of twelve years of quantitative and qualitative research, Dr. DeGruy has developed her theory of Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome, and published her findings in the book Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome – America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing”. The book addresses the residual impacts of generations of slavery and opens up the discussion of how the black community can use the strengths we have gained in the past to heal in the present.
WHAT IS P.T.S.S.?P.T.S.S. is a theory that explains the etiology of many of the adaptive survival behaviors in African American communities throughout the United States and the Diaspora. It is a condition that exists as a consequence of multigenerational oppression of Africans and their descendants resulting from centuries of chattel slavery. A form of slavery which was predicated on the belief that African Americans were inherently/genetically inferior to whites. This was then followed by institutionalized racism which continues to perpetuate injury.
Thus, resulting in M.A.P.:
- M: Multigenerational trauma together with continued oppression;
- A: Absence of opportunity to heal or access the benefits available in the society; leads to
- P: Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome.
SOLUTIONS
Dr. Amos Wilson offered 5 challenging questions for people of African Descent, in order to awaken and reconnect with their re-acculturation to African Society; He asks:
What Language do you speak?
What Names do you answer to?
What Foods do you eat?
What Clothes do you wear?
Can You name 1 African God?
These questions are meant as a call to consciousness, to recognize the core of the assimilation process in a person, and how we can be able to transform and heal from mental enslavement.
https://ankh-seneb.blogspot.com/2009/05/maafa-syndrome-healing.html
I AM MY HAIR and SKIN-
MY SKIN and HAIR IS MY IDENTITY!
As a little girl, my Mom would hot comb my hair for church. l recall, sitting very still in a kitchen highchair, listening to the grease and my hair sizzle, crackle and pop, through the hot comb, and going through the fear of getting burned on my ears or face. I remember her saying, "let me get in this kitchen!" I lived in an integrated environment throughout my childhood, often bullied by caucasian children, who pulled and spat in my hair. Every day, I ran home from school to wash my hair. I remembered feeling sorry for myself. I hated school, and myself. Then I remembered one day crying, then wiping away my tears, and just looking in the mirror, and saying to myself, That God made me perfect, just the way I am... I learned to embrace myself... I remember the 70s era and watching many Indigo women wear their hair in Natural Afros, as an expression of Black power. I wore my natural Afro and refused to ever straighten my hair again. My mother bought me wigs to hide my hair at public events. She wanted me to conform and be accepted by Caucasians. Later, as an adult, I wore my hair in lox and embraced my KMT Ancient Afrikan Heritage. Now I reach out and teach other Afrikan Girls about natural living, health, and Wellness, whenever I can, using the Black Panther food program model, with Amen Ankh Akademy ACE Green STEAM Home School Network and You G.R.O.W.W. Girls- Teach a Girl, Heal a Nation… "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear." i have created a poem about my hair... Called: "ADENIKE My Crown Is Precious"
It's not just hair or skin... Black Nappy Hair is alive. Black Coiled hair is sacred. Our melanin-rich hair and skin are magnetic. Black hair is a living material and an extension of the body. Our Black nappy hair defies gravity! My Melanin skin is a carbon memory bank network. I have learned about auras and chakras and the healing powers of color and aromas. I apply meditation and Conscious breathing and diet as a way of life, to reconnect to the natural kingdom of the planet and the cosmos. Our natural coiled hair responds like an antenna or battery... To change its natural order by dying, straightening and cutting, changes or nullifies its original intent by the creator to blindside our dexterity and ability to maneuver in the Nature Eco environment. All of our senses respond on a higher dimension. So, we sense the environment differently with melanin richness. Much like an acidic diet and negative stress calcifies the pineal gland, Altered hair and skin is destructive and disruptive to our balance in maneuvering in a hostile environment.
And yes, although the above statement is very true... Wearing Natural Braids, Afros, and Lox doesn't make a person “conscious.” Knowledge of self means not only knowing our great Afrakan* history, yet also, to be sensitive and intentional to practice and live our own culture, diet, languages, worldview, and Spirituality, is what gives us distinct living existence, Cultural unity, and empowerment. Only when we misunderstand and devalue our hair and skin; when we pollute and don’t take care to cherish and protect our body temple as a whole; And when we conform and assimilate with the stripping off of our natural phenotype, that we diminish our natural power.
To cover the natural melanin-rich coiled hair with an artificial weave is like covering our natural melanin skin with layers of plastic (nylon, acrylic, polyester, etc.) clothing and sunblock. we are wearing an artificial reality of other's energy.
To be conscious on the next level is to innerstand naturalness; but yes, there are many fake wannabes out there on both sides of the pendulum, who perpetrate black culture or who assimilate and deny black culture. To this day we still have those with "good hair" syndrome who covet for their children to have silky hair and light skin and to assimilate into the ways of an alien society because we don't look for or see ourselves as powerful.
I wear my hair in tight coils and lox because that is how it grows from my scalp. I don't want my hair to be construed as just a political statement. Talk to me if you want to know what I think. Don't look at my hair, and imagine what I might be thinking. Let my Appearance be a teachable moment.
There is a natural order that we are born with if the order is disturbed it can interrupt your body's full potential. I'm not attacking you or anyone.
But I have seen beautiful sistars losing their natural hair due to unnatural manipulation. The base on most hair bleaches and relaxers is lye and formaldehyde. Lye is a caustic substance, commonly used as drain cleaner. When you combine that with fat, you make soap. In many cases, baldness has occurred due to the excessive use of chemicals on the scalp. These chemicals are being absorbed through the skin like a nicotine patch, actually destroying the living skin down to the skull and into the blood/brain barrier to the pineal gland.
BLACK Love is loving and accepting ourselves
BLACK Love is loving and accepting ourselves with self-knowledge in the midst of haters, bigots, racial profiling, prejudice, Ignorance, Classism, Racism, and/or others who might be your family members with self-hate.
Yes, focus on black love... Love your black hair in spite of the fact that the world thinks it's ugly, love your black skin... I want all the sistars and brothers, Queens and Kings to love themselves.
I think the whole body, mind, and soul matters,... all incorrect balance. Yes, WE must focus on black love... Black Love Matters, Black Lives Matter, Black Money Matters! Love your black hair in spite of what the world thinks. Love your black skin... I want all the Sistars and Brother Suns, Queens and Kings to love themselves. Respect their Ancestors, Elders and Know our Historic culture and civilizations.
We need to pay more attention to our Black children's minds...
Our youth are forced to process a sick and dying world of race supremacy.
Our Black Girls are our foundation. As you teach a girl you heal a nation.
Our youth are forced to process a sick and dying world of race supremacy.
Our Black Girls are our foundation. As you teach a girl you heal a nation.
Our whole body matters, mind, body, and soul... We must live in the correct balance.
When women are talking about something of great importance to them, listen. We are Ankh Wombs of creation. We are the first teachers of our children, as they live inside the womb, as we feed them from our nipples, and from the wellness choices, attitudes and conditioning that we carry.
With love comes dignity and self-respect.
Live, Laugh and Leave a Legacy of Love! ---
Kandaki-Ma Nuta Beqsu (Adenike Amen-Ra)
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(c) All rights reserved. No part of this Blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the author; Nuta Beqsu Adenike AmenRa
We are available for Lectures, Panel Discussions, Conferences, and Workshops, along with an Af-Ra-Ka-N Centered curriculum for youth STEAM homeschooling, Workshops, and Itinerate Tutoring.
I hope you have enjoyed our presentation. Amen Par Ankh is our Outreach ministry. Please support our initiatives...
(c) All rights reserved. No part of this Blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the author; Nuta Beqsu Adenike AmenRa
We are available for Lectures, Panel Discussions, Conferences, and Workshops, along with an Af-Ra-Ka-N Centered curriculum for youth STEAM homeschooling, Workshops, and Itinerate Tutoring.
We live in our ancient KMT Spiritual systems to serve our community in Libations, Griot Spoken Word Presentations, KMT Wedding, Naming and ReBirth, Personal consultations for Nia (Purpose), Health, Career and, Relationship, and Ascension officiant, Salutations and Blessings for new beginnings, (Home and Businesses blessings), Afrikan Storytelling. Amen Par Ankh is a Sacred Temple of Life- We are a KRST conscious Community. We Grow Food to restore balance in our relationship with the cosmos, earth, and our Natural communities by increasing awareness of Life, Health, and Environment. We are a Maafia a "Healthy Place To Live" Amen Ankh Urban Farm’s Mission is to produce, promote, and perpetuate food, resources, and comfort and to grow local healthy Indigenous Foods in environmentally, respected, earth gentle ways. Call Us-816-281-7704
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