In honor of Black History Month, let’s reflect on February 13th, 2016, the closing ceremony of the 35th Annual Black Doll Show in Los Angeles, California. Since 1982, the William Grant Still Art Center has held the Black Doll Show. The show was created in response to the 1940s doll test conducted by Mamie and Kenneth Clark, which determined that a large majority of African American children favored white dolls due to social stigma.
The theme of the 2016 Black Doll Show was Trench Art Retrospective: The War Against HIV/AIDS-Women of the African Diaspora in the Trenches, which displays approximately 200 artist dolls, sculptures, a sampling of community-created handmade dolls from Dr. Davis’sDolls of Hope Project, artist-designed altars, and quilts, including a section of the NAMES Project Foundation’s AIDS Memorial Quilton loan from Atlanta, Georgia.
The William Grant Still Arts Center, in its 35th milestone anniversary year of the Black Doll Show, welcomed AHF’s very own Dr. Cynthia Davis, MPH, as guest curator. Dr. Davis, being an avid doll collector, had already dedicated thirty-five years of her career in public health, laboring as an advocate and educator to individuals and communities affected by HIV/AIDS. Davis also currently serves as Chair of AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s (AHF) Board ofDirectors.
As a winter tradition, the Black Doll Show continues to promote positive self-image for people throughout the African diaspora, a vital necessity in today’s world.
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