“Taking risks. Changing rules. Paving the way for generations.” That’s what the Barbie brand captioned their Instagram photo showing their new line of “Inspiring Women” dolls. Among the new line of dolls is Civil Rights Activist Rosa Parks.
Parks became an icon in civil rights history when in 1955 the then 42-year-old refused to give up her seat on a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat to a white passenger and convicted of violating segregation laws.
Parks bold action sparked the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. bus boycott that lasted until the United States Supreme Court ruled bus segregation unconstitutional a year later.
“Barbie recognizes all female role models. The Inspiring Women Series pays tribute to incredible heroines of their time,” Barbie wrote under the description of the Rosa Parks doll. “courageous women who took risks, changed rules and paved the way for generations of girls to dream bigger than ever before.”
Barbie also designed a doll modeled after the first American woman to fly in space, Sally Ride. Ride accomplished this dream in June of 1983.
