Fall 1

Salimata Lala Fall

English 1001
Ms.Coco
October 10, 2015
Audience: I have two audiences. One being young African American females, the other target
audience are college students.
Process Preface
I chose this particular text because it was intriguing to me. I began with this text and
honed in on the particular short documentary by Kiri Davis.

The group conference helped me focus my ideas and helped me with how to analyze my text.
Unfortunately, I was absent, thought it is excused, I missed the peer review. Therefore, I can't
speak on revisions made from the peer review. However, I did revise my paper with my own
eyes. When doing so, I worked on the flow of the paper and the content, relating my paper back
to the lack of cultural appreciation.

The card and the gap chart helped me create my line of inquiry. I also used the formula
for the line of inquiry and ran with it based on the brainstorming I did with the gap chart. I did
not hit any roadblocks when creating this line of inquiry.

The strengths of this paper are the content. I feel that my voice and syntax is also very
strong. I think the weaknesses of this paper are organization and focus. I hope as I continue to
work on this paper, I will be able to hone my thoughts. The film, addresses so many issues, that
at times, it can be overwhelming.

Fall 2
At this stage of the gap, I try to remember not to get overwhelmed. I know that this will
turn into something greater, and that as I continue to work on the paper the more focused it will
get.

Black Doll
To be black in America, is like an albatross hanging around your neck. There is a weight
that is attached to you...As we progress in time, well into the 21st century, we love to believe, or
even preach, that "race is no longer an issue," and if race is brought up, its connotation is
negative, as if the "race card" is an excuse. Race, even though it is a touchy subject, is very
serious and very prevalent in today's society. In the film, "A Girl Like Me" by Kiri Davis, Davis
recreates the famous doll experiment. She also explores relationships within the African
American community. This paper will analyze, what this particular short film is suggesting about
the struggles of cultural identity in African American community, and the brooding question of
what it means to be African American in America.
Kiri Davis is a 17 year old African American female. She is the color of a dark Hershey
chocolate bar, and her hair is tight curls of wool. She is natural. The film continues to explain
what it means to be natural in the African American community. To be natural means that the hair
is not processed, meaning there is no perm, or there is no chemicals that manipulates the texture
of the hair. Being natural, in other words, is wearing the hair that you were born with. In the
African American community, there is a plethora of hair textures and hair styles that can be
accomplished. Whether that be using chemicals, such as a perm, relaxer, or texturizer, that
manipulates the hair texture, or protective styles, such as braids, twists, or if it is wearing one's
natural hair.

Fall 3
However, the films explores two of the great divides within the African American
community: hair and skin complexion. In today's society, what we see plays a huge role in our
definitions of ourselves. What we see on movies, reality television, and on the red carpet
influences us majorly. We have grown so accustomed to seeing celebrities with long hair and
tanned skinned. Even the few sprinkles of African American celebrities that make it mainstream,
appearing on the red carpet, television, or being heard on the radio, they have also altered
themselves. Society equates these stars as beautiful, with their long weaves and lighter skin,
leaving African Americans with unrealistic ideas of beauty. Beauty, in the eyes of media and
society is the opposite of what they are. Some of our hair is kinky and coarse, our skin ranges
from the lightest yellow to the deepest browns. The beauty about being black is that there is such
diversity. However, that diversity isn't present in media. Therefore, we have a split amongst the
African American community. We have the ones that are of lighter complexion and finer hair and
we have those darker in complexion with coarser hair. Davis, in her documentary, interviews
girls who explain how in the African American community, one is "prettier" with lighter skin and
finer hair. The pressure to feel pretty and to assimilate to the definition of "pretty" causes girls to
perm their hair, dislike their complexion, and even more. Two minutes into the film, we see an 18
year old African American young adult, admit to feeling ugly and insecure about her dark skin. It
is even reveled that some have even gone as far as bleaching their skin, just to be lighter...just to
feel beautiful. Unfortunately, this trickles down to even the youngest members of the African
American community.
In the short documentary, one young lady recalls playing with her dolls as a child. She
reminisces about brushing her doll's hair. Her dolls, the majority of them being white, she states
that as she was brushing its long, straight, hair, she wished she was just like the white doll. The

Fall 4
film begins to introduce the doll test. After Brown vs The Board Education, Dr. Kenneth Brown
Clark and his wife Mamie Clark, chose to conduct an experiment in which he asked African
Americans children to choose between an African American doll and a Caucasian doll. The
majority of the African American children preferred the Caucasian dolls over the African
American dolls. Almost five decades later, Kiri Davis, recreates the doll test. To much despair,
the results are shockingly similar: when asked, what doll the children prefer, again, the majority
of the children chose the Caucasian doll. When asked, what doll was the bad doll, the children
overwhelmingly chose the African American doll. The common response from the children, were
that the Caucasian doll was the good doll because it was white, and the African American doll
was the bad doll because it was black. 15 out of the 21 African American children interviewed
preferred the Caucasian doll.
What do these results show about the African American youth? These children, see the
media and they see the society in which they live in, that does not praise or glorify African
Americans, in all their glory. They see their older sisters and mothers altering themselves to look
a certain way. Unfortunately, the lack of self identity and cultural appreciation is missing in the
African American community, as proven with this documentary. Six minutes into the film, one
female states that there is something "missing" in the African American community, and while
we are searching for whatever is missing, "everyone else in society is throwing their ideas and
what they believe we should be at us." She states that we, the African American community
"doesn't really know what we should be." This statement, daring and bold, show how in order for
our children to love themselves, we first have to redefine beauty. We have to educate our youth
on our heritage. We have to teach that all people, African Americans included, are beautiful. That
beauty comes in many forms.

Fall 5
Children absorb what surrounds them. They learn from what they see and what they heat.
Unfortunately, not only are African American children struggling with their identity but so are
the older generations. As people, we are influenced greatly directly and indirectly. The only thing
that can help combat the lack of cultural confidence in the African American community, is a
strong foundation and roots in pride, education, and respect for their community.