Collection: Shindana Toys: Revolution in Plastic, Pride in Every Child

My brothers and sisters, step into a time when our people dared to say: Black is beautiful, even on the toy shelf. This powerful exhibit honors Shindana Toys, a bold and unapologetic Black-owned toy company born from the ashes of the 1965 Watts Rebellion in Los Angeles. With a name rooted in Swahili meaning “to compete,” Shindana was more than a business, it was a mission. Founded in 1968 by Operation Bootstrap, Shindana Toys answered the urgent cry of the community: our children needed dolls that looked like them: brown skin, textured hair, full lips, and proud African features. For the first time in American history, little Black boys and girls could see themselves not as sidekicks or stereotypes, but as the main characters in their own stories.

Shindana didn’t just make toys, it made affirmation. Their dolls, like “Baby Nancy” and “Tamu,” became cultural weapons against shame and invisibility, allowing Black children to hold themselves in their hands with love. The company produced not just dolls, but games, plush figures, and even celebrity likenesses of Black heroes like Flip Wilson and Michael Jackson—portraying Black excellence in every form. Shindana’s impact still echoes today, laying the foundation for future movements in Black representation. This exhibit is a sacred space of remembrance and joy, where we honor those who knew that healing a people starts in the hearts of its children and sometimes, that healing comes wrapped in a box with a brown-skinned doll smiling back.