Shaneisha Dodson, founder and CEO of Brilliant Girl, a popular Black-owned retail platform for kids, has launched the Sugamama doll, the world’s first 18-inch Black superhero doll. She claims that the goal of all of her company’s designs is to increase representation of black girls in the toy industry.
Shaneisha claims that as a child, she couldn’t find many dolls that represented her or carried cultural characteristics of her people. Brilliant Girl, on a mission to change that narrative, has now launched a line of dolls with exciting backstories and a variety of clothing options to make playtime interactive and fun.
She comments, “All superheroes don’t wear capes, sometimes they wear aprons and eat cookies.” With our dolls, we hope to give young girls the power to love themselves, to believe that can achieve the unimaginable, and to see themselves as the superheroes they are. Girls idolize their dolls and finding dolls that represent their true essence and the beauty of their culture is amazing.
Sugamama Doll, the company’s first original doll, is a girl superhero who enjoys baking and eating cookies. Brilliant Girl also sells picture books and coloring books, so children can spend time with their parents reading about Sugamama’s adventures.