I was nine years old before I had a doll that looked like me
 
A woman tells a childhood story about her mother promising to buy her a new baby doll. When they arrived at the mall, they combed through the shelves at every toy store only to discover each carried exclusively White dolls. When they realized they weren’t going to find a Black baby doll, her mother declared their trip to the mall was over, and they’d have to try again somewhere else. The woman recalls insisting that she didn’t mind that her doll would be White, begging her to just buy one that day like she promised. 
 
As an adult, she reflects on her mother’s assertion, thankful for her inflexibility. She concluded, “You see, if my mom had just accepted that there weren’t any dolls of color, there still may be none.”
 
p 293 from Sonder: The Art of Empathy Through Eavesdropping