Blind Barbie features a red and white cane, sunglasses for eye protection and an eye gaze that faces “slightly up and out,” which is characteristic of some blind individuals. Her satiny pink blouse and textured ruffle skirt were designed to provide tactile interest, and the top comes with high-contrast, brightly colored hooks to make swapping outfits easier for those who are visually impaired. The packaging has “Barbie” written in Braille.

Barbie partnered with the American Foundation for the Blind to design the doll.

“When I was growing up I would have only dreamed for this moment to come,” doll ambassador and disability activist Lucy Edwards posted on her Instagram story Tuesday. “To be accepted so much that the most popular doll in the world now has a visual impairment and looks like me. I still can’t believe I’m typing this but blind Barbie is here.”

Edwards, who lost all eyesight when she was 17, cried when she found out she was blind Barbie’s ambassador, she said in an interview with BBC. In a post on X, she said she would have loved to play with blind Barbie when she was growing up.

“My 7 year old has been longing for a blind/low vision Barbie,” user @_its_me_andi commented on Barbie’s Instagram post. “Representation matters and she is going to be thrilled. Can’t wait to get one in her hands!!!”

“I am 43 and I was born blind,” Instagram user @mama.blue.bird said in another comment. “I played with and loved Barbie my whole childhood. This made me cry so deep!! Thank you Barbie, from the deepest part of my heart and soul.”

Approximately 6 million Americans have vision loss and 1 million have blindness, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Building on the first Barbie with Down syndrome that was released in 2023, Mattel also created a Black Barbie with Down syndrome in partnership with the National Down Syndrome Society.

Like the 2023 doll, this Barbie features characteristics often associated with those with Down syndrome. She has a rounder face, smaller ears and a flat nasal bridge, as well as a shorter frame, longer torso and a single line on her palm.

However, this new doll also has a braided hair texture, a key feature the Black Down syndrome community asked for. The Barbie’s dress is also blue and yellow, colors which represent Down syndrome awareness, and the three arrows in some of the heart patterns symbolize the third 21st chromosome those with Down syndrome have. The pink glasses represent individuals with Down syndrome who often experience difficulties with their vision.

A focus group of Black individuals with Down syndrome helped inform Barbie’s design choices in making the new doll.

National Down Syndrome Society President and CEO Kandi Pickard said the doll marked “another important step in expanding representation for the disability community” in a statement released Monday.

Down syndrome is the most common chromosomal condition in the United States.

“We recognize that Barbie is much more than just a doll,” Barbie Senior Vice President Krista Berger said in Mattel’s statement. “She represents self-expression and can create a sense of belonging.”

The two dolls join the Barbie Fashionistas line, Mattel’s most diverse doll series that includes Barbies with vitiligo, prosthetic limbs and hearing aids. They are currently selling online and at major retailers for $10.99.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

Tractor Supply said it would be eliminating all of its diversity, equity and inclusion roles while retiring current DEI goals. It did not elaborate on what was entailed in eliminating DEI roles.

The company added that it would “stop sponsoring nonbusiness activities” such as Pride festivals or voting campaigns — and no longer submit data to the Human Rights Campaign, the largest advocacy group for LGBTQ+ rights in the U.S.

The Brentwood, Tennessee-based retailer, which sells products ranging from farming equipment to pet supplies, also said in a statement Thursday that it would withdraw from its carbon emission goals to instead “focus on our land and water conservation efforts.”

These changes mark a stunning shift in policy and messaging from Tractor Supply, which once touted its diversity and inclusion efforts. Just earlier this month, Tractor Supply President and CEO Hal Lawton maintained that the company remained “very consistent” in how it approaches its own DEI and ESG — environmental, social and governance — programs for a number of years.

“(We’ve) just been very consistent in our emphasis there,” Lawton said in a June 5th interview with The Associated Press, pointing to company web pages that he said reinforced and reported on those efforts. “We haven’t walked away from anything.”

NCAA Mar 12

NAACP urges student-athletes to reconsider Florida colleges after state eliminates DEI programs

Thursday’s move appeared to reverse much of that — and arrives amid a wider backdrop of conservative backlash and litigation that has targeted companies across industries, as well as a wide array of diversity initiatives, including fellowships, hiring goals, anti-bias training and contract programs for minority or women-owned businesses.

Legal attacks against companies’ diversity and inclusion efforts have particularly been on the rise since June of last year, when the Supreme Court ruled to end affirmative action in college admissions. Many conservative and anti-DEI activists have been seeking to set a similar precedent in the working world.

Beyond the courtroom, some companies and brands — from Bud Light to Target — have been hit with online campaigns calling for boycotts.

Meanwhile, some other corporations and law firms have quietly altered their diversity programs, a stark contrast to the very public announcement on Thursday by Tractor Supply. In its statement, the company said “heard from customers that we have disappointed them” and “taken this feedback to heart.”

“We will continue to listen to our customers and Team Members,” Tractor Supply added. “Your trust and confidence in us are of the utmost importance, and we don’t take that lightly.”

A Tractor Supply spokesperson declined to provide further comment Friday.

This week’s move arrives after the company faced ample pushback online from conservative activists and far-right accounts across social media, including from the prominent right-wing account known as Libs of TikTok.

The backlash against Tractor Supply appeared to bubble up earlier this month. In a June 6 post on social media platform X, conservative political commentator and filmmaker Robby Starbuck told his followers to “start buying what you can from other places until Tractor Supply makes REAL changes and shows that they respect the majority of their customers enough to not spend the money we give them on causes we’re deeply opposed to.”

Starbuck and other conservative social media users continued to criticize Tractor Supply in the following weeks — and celebrated Thursday’s news from the company.

In contrast, others have expressed disappointment with Tractor Supply’s announcement — with some arguing that the company is giving in to hate and harming its customers by abandoning crucial principles. Many users on social media are also vowing to now shop elsewhere.

Eric Bloem, vice president of programs and corporate advocacy at the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement that Tractor Supply is “turning its back on their own neighbors with this shortsighted decision.” The organization had worked with Tractor Supply to create inclusive policies and practices for years, he added.

“LGBTQ+ people live in every zip code in this country, including rural communities. We are shoppers, farmers, veterans and agriculture students,” Bloem said. “Caving to far right extremists is only going to hurt the same folks that these businesses rely on.”

The organization steeped in tradition has made seismic changes after decades of turmoil, from finally allowing gay youth to welcoming girls throughout its ranks. With an eye on increasing flagging membership numbers, the Irving, Texas-based organization announced the name change Tuesday at its annual meeting in Florida.

“In the next 100 years we want any youth in America to feel very, very welcome to come into our programs,” Roger Krone, who took over last fall as president and chief executive officer, said in an interview before the announcement.

The organization began allowing gay youth in 2013 and ended a blanket ban on gay adult leaders in 2015. In 2017, it made the historic announcement that girls would be accepted as Cub Scouts as of 2018 and into the flagship Boy Scout program — renamed Scouts BSA — in 2019.

There were nearly 1,000 young women in the inaugural class of female Eagle Scouts in 2021, including Selby Chipman. The all-girls troop she was a founding member of in her hometown of Oak Ridge, North Carolina, has grown from five girls to nearly 50, and she thinks the name change will encourage even more girls to realize they can join.

“Girls were like: ‘You can join Boy Scouts of America?’” said Chipman, now a 20-year-old college student and assistant scoutmaster of her troop.

Within days of the announcement that girls would be allowed, Bob Brady went to work. A father of two girls and a proud Eagle Scout himself, the New Jersey attorney eagerly formed an all-girls troop. At their first weekend gathering with other troops, the boys were happy to have the girls involved but some adult leaders seemed concerned, he recalled. Their worries seemed to melt away as soon as the girls led a traditional cheer around the campfire.

“You could see a change in the attitude of some of the doubters who weren’t sure and they realized, wait, these kids are exactly the same, they just happen to have ponytails,” said Brady. His daughters are among the 13 girls in his troop and 6,000 girls nationwide who have achieved the vaunted Eagle Scout rank.

Like other organizations, the scouts lost members during the pandemic, when participation was difficult. After a highpoint over the last decade of over 2 million members in 2018, the organization currently services just over 1 million youths, including more than 176,000 girls and young women. Membership peaked in 1972 at almost 5 million.

The move by the Boy Scouts to accept girls throughout their ranks strained a bond with the Girl Scouts of the USA, which sued, saying it created marketplace confusion and damaged their recruitment efforts. They reached a settlement agreement after a judge rejected those claims, saying both groups are free to use words like “scouts” and “scouting.”

While camping remains an integral activity for the Boy Scouts, the organization offers something for everyone today, from high adventures to merit badges for robotics and digital technology, Krone said: “About anything kids want to do today, they can do in a structured way within the scouting program.”

The Boy Scouts’ $2.4 billion bankruptcy reorganization plan took effect last year, allowing the organization to keep operating while compensating the more than 80,000 men who say they were sexually abused as children while scouting.

Angelique Minett, the first woman chairperson of Scouts BSA, gets excited about the future of scouting when she sees the about 20-person youth council from across the United States help guide the program by raising issues important to them, like sustainability, and things that they’d like to see changed, like the fit on some of the uniforms.

“When we think scouts we think knots and camping, but those are a means to an end,” Minett said. “We are actually teaching kids a much bigger thing. We are teaching them how to have grit, and we’re teaching them life skills and we’re teaching them how to be good leaders.”

The organization won’t officially become Scouting America until Feb. 8, 2025, the organization’s 115th birthday. But Krone said he expects people will start immediately using the name.

“It sends this really strong message to everyone in America that they can come to this program, they can bring their authentic self, they can be who they are and they will be welcomed here,” Krone said.

While she felt supported in the role, “there wasn’t the willingness for the leaders to take it all the way,” Lawless said. “Really, it’s the leaders and every employee that creates the culture of inclusion.”

This inspired her venture, Bossy and Blissful, a collective for Black female executives to commiserate and coach each other on how to deal with misogynoir, a specific type of misogyny experienced by Black women, or being the only person of color in the C-suite.

“I’m now determined to help other women, particularly women of color and Black women, to see that we don’t have to sacrifice ourselves for success. We can find spaces or create our own spaces where we can be successful and thrive,” said Lawless, who is based in Oakland, California.

Many women in Lawless’ group have no workplace peers, making them the “Onlys” — the only Black person or woman of color — which can lead to feelings of loneliness or isolation.

“Getting together helps us when we go back and we’re the ‘only-lonelies’ in a lot of our organizations,” Lawless said.

With attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives raging, Black women looking to climb the corporate ladder face a more hostile landscape than ever. Aside from having to constantly prove themselves and talk in a manner that can’t be labeled as angry or emotional, obtaining top managerial positions doesn’t stop the double dilemma of racial and gender pay gaps. All this adds up to disproportionate representation of Black female senior leadership.

US & World

Harvard Jan 3

Harvard president's resignation highlights new conservative weapon against colleges: Plagiarism

news Jan 2

Harvard University President Claudine Gay resigns amid plagiarism claims

news Jan 4

What Harvard University President Claudine Gay's resignation means for future applicants

Dr. Claudine Gay’s resignation in January as Harvard’s first Black president following accusations of anti-Semitism and plagiarism was just the latest in a revolving door of Black women who have been aggressively questioned or abandoned after achieving a career pinnacle.

Black female professionals also were hit hard when an administrator at a historically Black college in Missouri accused the school’s white president of bullying and racism then took her own life. This led some to build networking groups and mentorships. For others it triggered an exodus to entrepreneurship and re-invention.

In Boston, Charity Wallace, 37, a biotech professional, and Chassity Coston, 35, a middle school principal, reflected on their own career struggles in light of Gay’s ordeal. Wallace said she was being more cognizant of her mental health, and that’s where their young Black professionals group, sorority sisters and family come in.

“It’s a constant fight of belonging and really having your girlfriends or your homegirls or my mom and my sister. I complain to them every day about something that’s going on at work,” Wallace said. “So having that circle of Black women that you can really vent to is important because, again, you cannot let the things like this sit. We’ve been silenced for too long.”

Coston said she mourned Gay’s resignation and, fearing something similar could happen to her, she reconsidered her future in education. But she didn’t want to give up.

“Yes, we’re going to continue to be scorned as Black people, as Black women. It’s going to continue to happen. But we can’t allow that,” Coston said. “I’m speaking from my strength right now because that wasn’t always how I felt in my stages of grief. We have to continue to fight just like Rosa (Parks), just like Harriet (Tubman).”

Gay struggled despite her resume full of accomplishments, Wallace said.

“I can’t imagine how she felt trying to do that and getting all these accolades, her degrees that she has, the credentials, and it just seemed like even that was not enough for her to stay,” Wallace said.

The backlash to DEI efforts is only amplified with clashes over identity politics. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones’ tenure bid at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill stalled in 2021 because of her work with the 1619 Project, a collection of essays on race. The 2022 confirmation hearings for Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman confirmed to the Supreme Court, drew criticism for their harsh and race-based questioning.

President Joe Biden emphatically stating he only would consider a Black woman for the high court deepened resentment toward DEI, said Johnny Taylor, CEO of The Society for Human Resource Management.

“Contrast and compare a CEO standing in front of his workplace or her workplace saying, ‘I’m only gonna consider, the next candidates will only be this,’” Taylor said. “That created some real tension.”

Black women are questioning whether it’s even worth trying for top positions, said Portia Allen-Kyle, chief advisor at social justice organization Color of Change. Extreme scrutiny and online vitriol are high prices to pay.

“What I’ve heard from quite a few Black women — family, friends and otherwise — is a little bit of feeling of frustration at the idea that excellence is not enough,” Allen-Kyle said. “The ‘Work twice as hard, be twice as good … maybe you’ll be able to be accepted on your merit.’ That lesson that maybe that’s not the case is hard and frustrating and disappointing all around.”

The number of Black women in the workforce is in danger of shrinking because of a lack of support and opportunities, according to advocates.

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Florida Feb 23, 2023

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Black women comprise 7.4% of the U.S. population but they occupy only 1.4% of C-suite positions and 1.6% of senior vice-president roles, according to a 2020 report from Lean In, “The State of Black Women in Corporate America.” U.S. Census data shows Black women working year-round and full-time in 2021 made 69 cents for every dollar a white man got. Meanwhile, white women made 80 cents on the dollar.

Lawless, who left Instagram/Meta in August, thinks more Black women will decide to be their own boss rather than enter a traditional workplace.

“There’s going to be a chilling effect and you’re going to see more Black women pivot and go into entrepreneurship, which we’re already doing at higher rates,” Lawless said. “Corporations have a real problem. They’ve lost more women at the director and above level since the pandemic.”

Even self-made businesses cannot avoid DEI resistance. The Fearless Fund, a small venture capital firm, is embroiled in a lawsuit accusing a grant program for Black women-owned companies of discrimination. The litigation has scared away potential investors, according to the firm’s founders.

Job openings for diversity officers and similar positions have declined in recent months. The combined share of venture capital funding for businesses owned by Black and Latina women has dipped back to less than 1% after briefly surpassing that threshold — at 1.05% — in 2021, according to the nonprofit advocacy group digitalundivided.

Stephanie Felix, of Austin, Texas, just started her own DEI consulting firm in January. It’s not something the 36-year-old, who worked in DEI for company review website Glassdoor, initially saw for herself.

“People say there’s risk in leaving but there’s also a lot of risk in staying,” Felix said.

Colleagues, family and even Felix herself had reservations about her career leap. But she said she has too often seen DEI hires go from “office pet to office threat.” Their arrival was heralded as a new chapter, but senior leaders wouldn’t come through with promised resources or authority to effect change.

“I applaud women that choose to step away and choose themselves. I applaud myself for it too,” Felix said. “Even though it’s not easy, it gives you more sovereignty over your life which is, in my mind, definitely worth it.”

Associated Press business writer Alexandra Olson in New York contributed to this report.

Terry Tang reported from Phoenix.

Blind Barbie features a red and white cane, sunglasses for eye protection and an eye gaze that faces “slightly up and out,” which is characteristic of some blind individuals. Her satiny pink blouse and textured ruffle skirt were designed to provide tactile interest, and the top comes with high-contrast, brightly colored hooks to make swapping outfits easier for those who are visually impaired. The packaging has “Barbie” written in Braille.

Barbie partnered with the American Foundation for the Blind to design the doll.

“When I was growing up I would have only dreamed for this moment to come,” doll ambassador and disability activist Lucy Edwards posted on her Instagram story Tuesday. “To be accepted so much that the most popular doll in the world now has a visual impairment and looks like me. I still can’t believe I’m typing this but blind Barbie is here.”

Edwards, who lost all eyesight when she was 17, cried when she found out she was blind Barbie’s ambassador, she said in an interview with BBC. In a post on X, she said she would have loved to play with blind Barbie when she was growing up.

“My 7 year old has been longing for a blind/low vision Barbie,” user @_its_me_andi commented on Barbie’s Instagram post. “Representation matters and she is going to be thrilled. Can’t wait to get one in her hands!!!”

“I am 43 and I was born blind,” Instagram user @mama.blue.bird said in another comment. “I played with and loved Barbie my whole childhood. This made me cry so deep!! Thank you Barbie, from the deepest part of my heart and soul.”

Approximately 6 million Americans have vision loss and 1 million have blindness, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Building on the first Barbie with Down syndrome that was released in 2023, Mattel also created a Black Barbie with Down syndrome in partnership with the National Down Syndrome Society.

Like the 2023 doll, this Barbie features characteristics often associated with those with Down syndrome. She has a rounder face, smaller ears and a flat nasal bridge, as well as a shorter frame, longer torso and a single line on her palm.

However, this new doll also has a braided hair texture, a key feature the Black Down syndrome community asked for. The Barbie’s dress is also blue and yellow, colors which represent Down syndrome awareness, and the three arrows in some of the heart patterns symbolize the third 21st chromosome those with Down syndrome have. The pink glasses represent individuals with Down syndrome who often experience difficulties with their vision.

A focus group of Black individuals with Down syndrome helped inform Barbie’s design choices in making the new doll.

National Down Syndrome Society President and CEO Kandi Pickard said the doll marked “another important step in expanding representation for the disability community” in a statement released Monday.

Down syndrome is the most common chromosomal condition in the United States.

“We recognize that Barbie is much more than just a doll,” Barbie Senior Vice President Krista Berger said in Mattel’s statement. “She represents self-expression and can create a sense of belonging.”

The two dolls join the Barbie Fashionistas line, Mattel’s most diverse doll series that includes Barbies with vitiligo, prosthetic limbs and hearing aids. They are currently selling online and at major retailers for $10.99.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

Democrats failed to win the necessary 60 votes to move forward with the resolution, which would have removed a 1982 deadline for state ratification and reopened the process to amend the Constitution.

The 51-47 vote included support from two Republicans, Maine Sen. Susan Collins and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski — well short of the 10 GOP votes needed.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., put the resolution up for a vote this week, even as it was unlikely to pass. He said it was especially timely in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision last year to overturn Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to an abortion.

“Women in America have far fewer rights today than they did even a year ago,” Schumer said.

After the vote, Schumer said the Senate is “not giving up,” and would keep trying to pass the measure.

Congress sent the amendment, which guarantees men and women equal rights under the law, to the states in 1972. It gave states seven years to ratify it, later extending the deadline to 1982. But the amendment wasn’t ratified by the required three-quarters of states before the deadline.

Three years ago, however, Virginia lawmakers voted to ratify the amendment, becoming the 38th and final state needed.

At the same time, several states — including Nebraska, Tennessee, Idaho, Kentucky and South Dakota — have attempted to remove their prior approval.

States can support the federal version individually, though it is not ratified into the U.S. Constitution, so those ratifications remain mostly symbolic.

In a statement of policy, the White House said that President Joe Biden “strongly supports” extending the deadline and that it is long past time.

“Gender equality is not only a moral issue – the full participation of women and girls across all aspects of our society is essential to our economic prosperity, our security, and the health of our democracy,” the White House said.

Republicans have argued that Democrats are trying to rewrite history.

“The Democrats’ novel unconstitutional approach bypasses states’ rights and circumvents the process our founders put in place,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., after the vote. “This is simply another liberal wish list item meant to drive a political wedge.”

To be considered for an Oscars statuette – a symbol of the best of the best in the film industry – it helps to have a large role in a blockbuster, have support from a major movie studio and be white. 

A look back at nominees chosen for the four major acting categories of the Academy Awards from 2000 to 2022 shows that nominees continue to be mostly white actors, with some awards seasons having only one or no actors with Black, African, Asian, Latino, Arab or Indigenous heritages. 

The lack of representation at the Oscars embroiled the awards ceremony in controversy, after nominees for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress were awarded to only white actors in 2015, and then again in 2016. 

April Reign sparked a public identity crisis for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences when her #OscarsSoWhite tweet launched a social movement for more representation in Hollywood. The backlash was swift, and overwhelming – Hollywood heavyweights like Spike Lee, Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith called for an Oscars boycott that year.

The audience followed, with numbers dropping by 16% for the broadcast. 

The Academy, led by then-President Cheryl Boone Isaacs (who was also its first Black president), promised to change. It imposed new diversity standards for nominations consideration – films are required to meet new "diversity standards" to be considered for best picture, for instance, and hundreds of new members were invited to join its traditionally white and male membership pool from minority groups.

The number of Black actors nominated in a major acting category jumped from zero to six for 2017 – a new record.

But representation in the four major acting categories is still somewhat inconsistent for the years following the #OscarsSoWhite controversy. While 2016, 2020 and 2022 were notable years for representation in the acting category, only actors with largely European heritage have been consistently represented year after year.

Overall, of the 140 nominees for a major acting category from 2016 onward, 102 were white – approximately five out of every seven nominees. 

The findings are consistent across acting categories, with white actors of both genders representing 75% to 85% of the pool of nominees per category.

Compared to the general U.S. populace, nominees for a best acting Oscar have started to reflect the average moviegoer in the wake of the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, if said moviegoer were White, Black or Asian. 

While the number of white nominees have dropped to accommodate actors from underrepresented communities, the shift has largely benefited Black and Asian actors – Latino actors in particular are still a rare sight on the Oscars award stage. There have only been four Latino actors nominated for a best in acting category within the last seven years: Yalitza Aparicio and Marina de Tavira for "Roma" in 2018, Ariana DeBose for "West Side Story" in 2021 and Ana de Armas for "Blonde" in 2022. 

By contrast, actors with Asian heritage have taken home four nominations in 2022 alone, thanks to sci-fi awards dark horse "Everything, Everywhere All At Once": Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu were nominated for Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress respectively, while Hong Chau was nominated for her role in "The Whale." 

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