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9 Y.O Starts Campaign ‘More Than Peach,’ Launches Crayons In All Skin Tones
Bellen Woodard’s campaign ‘More Than Peach’ gains worldwide applause for its originality and creativeness to aware people regarding coloured skin.
A box of crayons can start a campaign, who would have thought? Neither did Bellen Woodard, a 9-year-old African-American girl from Virginia who did not like being asked for the ‘skin-colour crayon’ (a.k.a the peach colour) by her classmate.
Different people have different ways of reacting to a situation. While today, we see adults fight, argue or protest over a social issue, this little girl decided to make an impact on her classmates and now the world by spreading the awareness about racism in a very creative manner. With her interesting strategy, she's told everyone about the unintentional but hurtful mistake that we tend to commit often.
After the incident when Bellen was asked for peach coloured crayon as ‘skin colour,' she was left confused. As the only African-American kid in her class, she suddenly felt uninvolved. She returned home to speak to her mother regarding the issue and was suggested that the next time she gets asked for a ‘skin colour’ crayon, she should hand over a brown one. However, little Bellen had another great evolved thought. She went on to tell her mother, “I would ask them which colour they want because it could be any number of beautiful colours.” The wide perception of her daughter stunned the mother and made her proud, too.
Bellen then started a campaign called More Than Peach in her school, after one year of the incident with the support of her teachers and classmates. In this now-popular initiative, she is sending “More Than Peach” colour-kits that include a sketchbook, a personalized postcard, a box of crayons or coloured pencils and a box of Crayola’s Multicultural Crayons or coloured pencils to schools and youth centres. These Multicultural Crayon sets are an assortment of 8 skin colours and not just ‘peach!'
Bellen's sole intent in donating the “More Than Peach” kits is to assure that “all kids know that they’re included,” and of course, to show that there is more than just a peach crayon to denote one's skin colour.