Originally published at: You can get a barbie of C.J. Walker, America's first self-made woman millionaire | Boing Boing
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I’m still waiting for the Lucy Parsons and Kate Sharpley dolls.
The Kate Sharpley Library was named after a Deptford-born World War I anarchist and anti-war activist. She worked in a munitions factory and was active in the shop stewards movement. Her brother William Sharpley and her father were killed in action and her boyfriend was listed as missing believed killed (though she suspected he had been shot for mutiny).[1] At the age of 22, when called to receive her family’s medals from Queen Mary she threw the medals back at the Queen, saying “if you like them so much you can have them”.[2]
The Queen’s face was scratched, Kate Sharpley was beaten by police, and imprisoned for a few days, though no charges were brought against her. She did however lose her job.
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Does Mary Ellen Pleasant not count as the first woman millionaire? Or was she not “self-made” enough?
But… still, pretty cool.
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Does that mean she gets absurdly proportioned legs and feet that only fit into high-heeled shoes?
Seems a bit better than being ignored entirely because her existence makes white people have a sad… I like the fact that toy companies are starting to acknowledge that children of color exist, and want to see toys that reflect them and their history. 
Seems like a generally good development to me.
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