"In addition to a black child owning dolls and other playthings that positively reflect their image, exposure to literature, art and other positive images will aid in the development of a healthy cultural awareness and appreciation, " she says.

CNN: Talking dolls challenge racial stereotypes

When she divorced her husband, the family moved to the suburbs and the boy was sent to a Catholic school, where he was the only black child in the class.

ECONOMIST: August Wilson

Every child, red, yellow, brown, black and white, deserves a constitutional right to an equal, high-quality public education.

CNN: Jackson: Candidates 'represent hope and healing'

As a child I had spent my evenings at home doing schoolwork, or trying to get a picture on the black and white TV, as a teenager I'd lain in my room fiddling with my yellow transistor radio, waiting for my favourite tunes.

NPR: 'Ancestor Stones:' Life and War in Sierra Leone