a small treat

 I had heard that the Barbie line (which does a "notable women" line - I guess they call it Inspiring Women) was doing a Dr. Opal Lee doll.

 I find her story compelling: if you don't know, she's called "The Grandmother of Juneteenth" - she's the person who advocated and educated until it was finally made a holiday. 

In the South, especially Texas, Juneteenth was an unofficial holiday in the African-American community for years; it seems near me (in North Texas; my town in Oklahoma is....not very diverse...) that it's celebrated with parades and speakers and picnics and church events and is just generally a joyful day; it's sometimes called "The Second Independence Day."

And Dr. Lee worked as an educator for many years, after she retired she founded a genealogical society in Ft. Worth and also tried to raise consciousness among local politicians about poverty striken areas of their towns. And of course, she advocated for Juneteenth to become a federal holiday, which it finally did, in 2021.

She's still around! She's 99. Sometimes I think some women turn out to be extremely long-lived not just because they got lucky in terms of health, but also because they have a purpose, and it seems like she's done a lot of good in the world. 

So she has a compelling story, and I also like the idea that Mattel did a doll of a mature woman. (She's on the "curvy" sculpt, which is a more matronly body, and her "face up" allows for some wrinkles. And her hair is gray. 

I ordered her from the Mattel site a while back, after a couple delays she finally arrived today. I'm pretty happy even if her clothing is less "fancy" that what I often like on fashion dolls (but I presume is more in keeping with her everyday wear). 

Other than that, she's a fairly standard fashion-sized doll

 

 She has a fairly articulated body - not as detailed as the "made to move" line, but her knees and elbows bend, and she has wrist joints

And here's her face up, and the hair

She also has a manicure! I love when there are little details like this

 

At first I wasn't sure where to display her, but for now I moved Mirabel off the little shelf and put her (with her stand) up on it. It's a little hard to photograph because the shelf is a little higher than I am tall.