Mattel Honors Black Conservative Activist, Suffragette, and Investigative Journalist Ida B. Wells With a Barbie Doll – Opinion

It could signal a shift in popular cultural thinking. At least that’s my hope. If nothing else, at least a worthy symbol for all girls—especially Black girls—is finally getting her due.

The UK Daily Mail

Mattel created the Barbie doll in honor of Ida B Wells (a black American journalist who was born to slavery but helped found the NAACP).

Wells, who was born to slavery Mississippi in 1862 during the Civil War, was a skilled writer who used her skills as a journalist to draw attention to the conditions experienced by African Americans in the South.

She was an activist and researcher who battled sexism and racism across the late 19th and early 20th centuries, founding the National Association of Colored Women’s Club and helping to set up the NAACP.

Mattel has created a Barbie doll honoring Wells, recognizing the iconic civil rights leader.

They waited too long. Ida B. Wells was ignored for many years. This is mainly due to the fact that she was both a conservative activist and a gun rights advocate when gun laws were being passed.

Ida B. also would. Wells pic.twitter.com/zQVuS3qo5Y

— Jennifer Oliver O’Connell, BA, MPW, Eata Bita Pi (@asthegirlturns) January 27, 2020

Just because she ran as an “Independent” for an Illinois State Senate seat in 1930, doesn’t mean she was anywhere close to being a political moderate. To co-opt a rich history of activism and justice, a Black conservative thinker and writer has whitewashed her political views and gun rights advocacy. Wells was an icon of feminist femininity and size. In this age of WOKE, many of the Left’s morally bankrupt and weak sauce icons are now crumbling (Hello, Margaret Sanger?)

In Wells’ writings, and particularly in an 1885 letter mentioned by Politifact, Wells expressed how she felt about Democrats and their agenda.

“I am not a Democrat,” Wells wrote, “because the Democrats considered me a chattel and possibly might have always so considered me, because their record from the beginning has been inimical to my interests.

Blacks were aligned to Republicans during that period because Republicans were formed to abolish slavery (they did), as well as usher in Reconstruction. Ida B. would not be accepted by the Democrats that were then Jim Crow and slave owners. Wells and Wells wouldn’t have anything to do with them.

Because a lot of what Democrats do now is similar to those tactics back in the day, I believe she would feel the exact same. Today’s meltdown over not being able to kill the Senate filibuster and do their federal takeover of voting rights is an excellent example. The same party was there then and they still are.

Wells wasn’t happy about the Republican Party or their indifference to the evils associated with lynching. The Republican Party is now a disgraceful party, and Wells would not be happy.

This is another story.

Ida B. was the subject of a detailed article. Here’s more on Wells and the legacy she left. Wells was an unstoppable force and set a standard for women journalists and all of humanity. This is a fitting tribute to her by popular culture.

Announcing the news, an Instagram account for Barbie said the Ida B Wells doll is the newest in its Inspiring Women series.

While a pricing information hasn’t been released, the doll will be sold at major retailers beginning January 17.

The statement said: ‘Barbie is proud to honor the incredible Ida B. Wells as the newest role model in our Inspiring Women series, dedicated to spotlighting heroes who paved the way for generations of girls to dream big and make a difference.’

Mattel would love to announce a major shift by including a Winchester Rifle as an accessory with their doll.

Just sayin’.