“But it was not the starting point.” Thirteen years earlier, Mattel had released a Black version of Francie, Barbie’s cousin. In 1968, Christie, Barbie’s best friend, arrived on ...

Before then, several Black American dolls were added to the Barbie franchise, like 'colored Francie' and Christie. There have been many notable Black Barbie dolls throughout Mattel's history as it ...

"If you've gone your whole life and you've never seen anything made in your own image, there is damage done," says Shonda Rhimes in the new trailer below for Black Barbie. Produced by Rhimes and ...

As Mattel’s Christie doll became more visible alongside Barbie and other Black friends debuted with names like “Julia” and “Francie,” Shindana made great leaps in normalising and ...

In the late 1960s, she had friends of color: Christie, a Black doll who had the same body that Barbie had, and Francie (with the unfortunate name of “Colored Francie”) who was flat-chested and ...

It wasn’t until 1967 that Mattel, the company that manufactures Barbie, made its first dark-skinned doll. According to the Independent, Francie and Christie were part of "several Black dolls ...

While Christy is considered the first real Black Barbie, Lord said that there was an “unfortunate iteration” of the existing Francie doll with darker skin that appeared in 1967. Skipper ...

Mattel created Barbie in 1959, but it wasn’t until 1968 that the toy maker released a line of Black dolls called Francie and Christie. The duo were labeled as Barbie’s “babysitter” and ...