7 Black Creators and Innovators Making a Difference For Kids

In honor of Black History Month, we’re sharing seven Black inventors, creators, and entrepreneurs making their mark on the children’s game, toy, and book industry, including:

Vashti Harrison

Our first feature is Vashti Harrison, a New York Times best-selling author, illustrator, and filmmaker. Vashti puts her unparalleled talent to use crafting beautiful stories focused on her Caribbean heritage and folklore. Her debut book, the beautifully illustrated Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History, is a widely celebrated bestseller that features 40 inspiring African American women and their achievements. With seven titles to choose from, including Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History, Little Dreamers: Visionary Women Around the World, and Dream Big, Little One, Vashti's Little Leaders collection highlights Black stories in a unique and engaging way. Celebrate Black History Month with Harrison’s FREE activity download featuring paper dolls, a word search, and coloring page.

Learn more at https://www.vashtiharrison.com/.

Ken Johnson

What began in his parents’ basement grew into one of the most successful games in the business! Inspired by the beloved card game Uno, Johnson developed Phase 10, a rummy-type card game, in just a few days, brought it to market, and eventually licensed the game to Mattel. The game went on to become an evergreen best-seller, with four variations including an electronic version. Celebrating its 40th anniversary this summer, Phase 10 is now sold in more than 30 countries and is the second best-selling card game in the world. Meanwhile, Johnson shares his tips and tricks with up-and-coming toy and game inventors to support their success.

Learn more at https://www.kenjohnsonspeaks.com/.

Lonnie Johnson

Johnson has made waves throughout his career, first as an Air Force engineer, then with his work with NASA on an outer planetary spacecraft that traveled to Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, but he really made a splash with his most playful invention—the Super Soaker! In production for more than 20 years, the Super Soaker has sold over 250 million units since its launch, generating more than $1 billion in sales over the last 30 years. The product was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2015. A proponent of perseverance, Johnson currently holds more than 100 product patents, including the Johnson Thermo-Electrochemical Converter (JTEC) Technology, named by Popular Mechanics as one of the Top 10 world changing technologies in 2008.

Learn more at http://lonniejohnson.com/.

Kemi Tignor

Devoted mom and savvy businesswoman, Tignor founded Upbounders in 2018 to challenge the notoriously homogenous offerings in the puzzle aisle and offer her son play options that better reflected his experiences. Available at favorite retailers like Amazon, Target, Nordstrom, and Anthropology, this line includes beautifully illustrated puzzles, memory games, and playing cards that celebrate the wonderfully diverse world of today’s kids.

Learn more at https://www.littlelikeskids.com/.

Yelitsa Jean-Charles

After growing up without having dolls that looked like her, Yelitsa Jean-Charles, the visionary Forbes 30 Under 30 founder behind Healthy Roots Dolls, pooled a variety of resources to launch her company in 2020, eventually raising $1.1 million and launching her line at Target.com. Her 18” dolls feature vinyl limbs, soft cloth body torsos, adorable outfits, and hair that’s washable and style-able, a feature that resonated with so many customers that the line has sold out three different times. Healthy Roots Dolls are designed to celebrate the uniqueness of each child, teach self-love, and represent the beauty in diversity. Both parents and children love how the dolls help little girls love their curls and the color of their skin.

Learn more about Yelitsa and Healthy Roots Dolls at https://healthyrootsdolls.com/.

Cynthia Watkins and Kathryn Burnett

The mother-daughter team behind Harperlman Dolls is committed to making dolls of color that represent the dolls they wished they’d had growing up. Their beautiful line of handcrafted linen dolls includes a variety of skin tones, hair textures, and outfits that provide better representation for little girls of color, reinforcing how important, intelligent, beautiful, talented, and creative they are and building their sense self-worth and self-esteem.

Learn more at https://www.harperiman.com/.

Black owned businesses are making a difference in industries across the board, including children’s products. We hope you’ll take the time to learn more about each of these pioneers in the industry and support Black owned businesses year-round.