Mattel said the Barbie is meant to honor Lee’s “mission of empowering communities to spark positive change.”
By Sarah Bahari
Dallas Morning News
https://www.dallasnews.com/
Mattel
She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and has received more than a half dozen honorary doctorates.
Still, little could prepare Opal Lee for this: At age 99, the civil rights icon is being honored with her very own Barbie doll. Mattel, the toy company behind the famous Barbie brand, announced Thursday it will celebrate Lee with a collectible from its Inspiring Women collection.
The Barbie is wearing a signature blue Opal’s Walk for Freedom T-shirt, white pants, sneakers and eye glasses. She has Lee’s curly mop of gray hair, and her hand is placed on a hip, as if she is ready to go.
Lee’s granddaughter, Dione Sims, said Lee screamed in delight when she first saw the doll, which is available in stores across the country beginning today.
“She is so excited,” Sims said. “She couldn’t believe it.”
In a statement, Mattel said the Barbie is meant to honor Lee’s “mission of empowering communities to spark positive change” and honors her “legacy of perseverance and commitment,” championing Juneteenth and civil rights. Images of Lee are printed on the box, as well as one of favorite quotes: “If people can be taught to hate, they can be taught to love.”
Lee, a retired public school teacher and activist in Fort Worth, is widely known as the “grandmother of Juneteenth” for her successful campaign to have Juneteenth recognized as a national holiday.
Her story is well known in Texas and beyond. In 1939, when Lee was 12, a mob of white supremacists set fire to her family’s home and destroyed it.
That event helped push Lee toward a career as an educator and later activist. In 2016, at age 89, she made her way from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., to draw attention to Juneteenth, walking 2½ miles in several cities along the way to represent the 2½ years it took for news of the Emancipation Proclamation to reach Galveston.
“Her story shows how one determined voice can help move history forward,” Mattel said in its announcement.
Lee joins a handful of other real-life trailblazers to have their own Barbies, including scientist Jane Goodall, tennis star Venus Williams, astronaut Ellen Ochoa and writer Maya Angelou.
By Sarah Bahari
Sarah Bahari is a trending news reporter. She previously worked as a writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where she covered a bit of everything. She is a graduate of Kansas State University.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
