A Monthly Message From the SAN RAFAEL AFRICAN AMERICAN PARENT COUNCIL

Volume II December 2015 | 4 Pages

Diverse Holiday Giving Since the Kenneth and Mamie Clark’s research on dolls and children’s self-esteem for the 1954 United States Supreme Court case, Brown vs. Board of Education, kids have more access to dolls that accurately and favorably represent diverse physical characteristics, such as skin color, facial features, and hair texture.

If you are looking to diversify your child’s doll collection this holiday season, there are many companies and entrepreneurs that have created product lines that are enjoying success in the market. Check out some of these dolls and think about adding them to your child’s toy choices or consider them when buying gifts: Ava Du Vernay Barbie | The Angelica doll with beautiful kinky hair from naturallyperfectdolls.com | Doc McStuffins | My Life as a Ballerina African American Doll from walmart.com | My Friend, Cayla from target.com | Madame Alexander from hallmark.com |Queens of Africa Dolls from queensofafricadolls.com | Double Dutch Dolls from doubledutchdolls.com | My Pretty Brown Doll from myprettyprowndoll.bigcartel.com (crocheted dolls) | Rooti Dolls from rootidolls.com/new/ (multilingual African dolls, but not available in the United States yet!) | Children of America Dolls from coadolls.com (custom- made dolls from local retiree). Please note: If you plan to purchase a doll from an independent seller, do your research and realize that it may take a while for you to receive your order due to the holiday rush.

Some parents feel that something as simple as talking to their children (at the appropriate age) about their doll preference can lead to minimizing their projected and internal skin color bias and implicit stereotyping and embracing an appreciation for diverse forms of beauty, including their own as well as others’. This holiday season, MochaMoms Los Angles, had a “Black Barbie and Books Drive” at their annual holiday party this past Saturday. The drive supports promoting confidence in children of color (#blackdolls). To find a Mocha Moms near you, visit mochamoms.org.

Although we’re many years after the Clarks’ doll study, the topic is still relevant today. See Melissa Harris-Perry’s Why Diversity is Important in Dolls; Anderson Cooper’s update, Inside the AC360 Doll Study; Chris and Ada Ngoforo’s The Making of the Rooti Dolls; official trailer to award-winning film, Why Do You Have Black Dolls?; and the article, Black Is Beautiful: Why Black Dolls Matter.

Galimotos In Africa, homemade galimotos are created by children out of anything from sticks to cornstalks, and can be vehicles of any sort. This push-toy bicycle rider on the right is created from shaped wire wrapped around fabric by artisans of the Chuma Wires workshop based in the Dandora area of Nairobi, Kenya. Chuma Wires provides valuable work for artisans who have little or no other opportunities for employment in this marginal section of Kenya’s capital. The cyclist’s legs move in a circular motion as the toy is pushed along. For gifts like this, visit tenthousandvillages.com/galimoto. Or you can visit their store, Ten Thousand Villages, right here in Pasadena.

To accompany this cute toy, get the book, Galimoto by Karen Lynn Williams. It’s about a little boy, Kondi, who is determined to make a galimoto. Although his brother jeers at the idea, Kondi goes on a mission collecting wire from around town. The author has wonderful supplemental activities to do with your child. To access it, visit Galimoto Activity and Learning Guide.

Send a Cow, a non-profit organization, which gives direct, practical help to poor farmers in East Africa, by providing cows and other livestock, training in livestock rearing and organic farming, and low-cost veterinary and advice services, created a video, “How to Make an African Wire Toy Car | Recycled Toy.” Another short video made up of clips of South African kids making galimotos, is “Making Wire Cars Games in Makuleke.”

San Rafael AAPC Fall Movie Night! The San Rafael AAPC in partnership with Loma Alta Park had a wonderful fall movie night. Before the movie, kids enjoyed pre-Thanksgiving Day activities in the recreation room. Later, the kids snacked on Ms. Penny’s special recipe popcorn, red vines, and spiced warm cider. Parents chatted and fellowshipped while the kids watched the throwback 1994 version of The Lion King movie. Thanks to all of the parents who made this a great night for the kids: Bill and Dorena Gould, Chris and Sandy Walker, Staci and Mazi Mitchell, Ayesha and Louis Randall. Special shout out to the Mitchells, Goulds, and Randalls for the snacks; and to Ms. Penny and her phenomenal Loma Alta Park staff!

The Wiz Live!, A Remake of a Classic On Thursday, December 3rd at 5 p.m., NBC embarked on its latest musical holiday tradition: a 3-hour live event production of the groundbreaking Broadway show that brought Oz to life in a funky sing-along journey down the yellow brick road— Live!. Winner of 7 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, the original 1975 Broadway hit starring Stephanie Mills spawned the 1978 feature film starring , , Lena Horne and Richard Pryor. (Source: nbc.com/the-wiz-live)

Now in 2015, a Tony-winning creative team, the imaginative Theatrical and a diverse cast of showstoppers created an eye-popping new take. Nineteen-year-old classically trained singer and thespian, Shanice Williams, starred in the live production alongside Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige, David Alan Grier, Ne-Yo, Common, and legend, Stephanie Mills.

The Wiz Live! had 128.9 million total tweets with the night’s activity spiking at 8:49 pm ET, when Ne-Yo "hit the dab" as the Tin Man during the song Slide Some Oil to Me and triggered 15,218 tweets per minute, making his dance move the most tweeted moment of the live airing!

But just like yo mama’s potato salad, some folks believe that there are just some things that just don’t need no updatin’! So there was a lot back and forth on social media about new school versus old school and more. But regardless of what Wiz hood you rep, check out some of the pop culture’s favorites: Stephanie Mills’s rendition of “Home” and Michael Jackson and Diana Ross’s version of . Check out the different versions and see which one you like the most.

Both versions are based on the 1900 children’s classic novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. Reprinted on numerous occasions, most often under the title, The Wizard of Oz, the book was adapted into a popular 1902 Broadway musical and later into the 1939 musical film adaptation, starring Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Roay Bolger, Bert Lahr, and Jack Haley.

Just in case you missed The Wiz Live!, you can see the full film at nbc.com/the-wiz-live! How great is technology? On the same website, you can also buy the DVD and the soundtrack for Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa gifts.

MLK Art Contest Entries Thanks to our wonderful principal, Mr. Ramirez and teacher, Ms. Rosales, and all of the other 4th and 5th grade teachers, San Rafael Elementary School had the second highest number of art entries in the Martin Luther King Essay and Visual & Performing Arts Contest in the district! Pandas rock!

45th Anniversary of Donny Hathaway’s, This Christmas You can’t have a soulful Christmas party without Donny Hathaway’s timeless classic, This Christmas, a song that seamlessly combines R&B with familiar holiday sentiments, romance, and spirituality. The song was written in 1967 by Nadine McKinner. She met Hathaway in 1970 and when he heard her sing it acapella, he loved it, and subsequently arranged, produced, and recorded it. McKinner said, “He put it all together in his head.”

This Christmas has been covered by numerous artists across diverse musical genres, including The Whispers, Diana Ross, , The Temptations, The Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, Alexander O'Neal, Christina Aguilera, , Harry Connick, Jr., Dru Hill, NSYNC, Gloria Estefan, Boney James, The Cheetah Girls, Chris Brown, Patti LaBelle and Mary J Blige.

Give the Gift of College for the Holidays Lots of companies are making it easier for parents to ask for, and receive, contributions to college savings plans. So now it’s really easy to give the gift of college for the holidays. GiftofCollege.com has revolutionized the process of gifting for college. The site enables parents to track the progress of their college investing against their goals. Parents can also invite friends and family to join and contribute to their child's college dreams and celebrate their investing successes. Donations can be made using a debit and/or credit card for a small transaction fee. WINTER HOLIDAY Upcoming Cultural & Holiday Events Family and Cultural Traditions th from the AAPC Community  Mon. Dec. 7 at 5 pm | 2015 Soul Train Awards Rerun | Centric (If you can’t watch it, set your DVR!) We celebrate the birth of Jesus  Tue. Dec. 8th at 6:30 pm | AAPC Bimonthly Meeting at Christ through Christmas traditions Loma Alta Park | We cook gumbo for Christmas |  Fri. Dec. 18th thru Sat. Dec 19th | Hot Chocolate Our family gets ready for Kwanzaa | We believe that Jesus is the Nutcracker | Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (The school has reason for the season | Sing carols nd adopted this trip as an annual 2 grade trip, but the to the sick and shut in and visit this year, the school discount tickets sold out people in the hospital and nursing completely, so next year, we will try to organize a 2nd homes | We have a Christmas and 3rd grade trip for 2016) brunch | Our family gets together  Sat. Dec. 19th from 5-9 pm | Winter Wonderland at on Christmas eve and drink egg nog, play games, and have a Loma Alta Park | Free event | Real snow, Santa Christmas sing along appearance, food and craft vendors, Christmas music and more! (AAPC will host a crafts table)

Newsletter by Ayesha K. Randall