Learn Baby Learn: The Shindana Toy Factory's Legacy of Black Pride (HC) (2026)

Out of the ashes and rubble of the Watts Rising in South Central Los Angeles in the mid-1960s arose a project called Operation Bootstrap that provided training and education for community members. Its motto, "Learn, Baby, Learn," sparked the development of the Shindana Toy Factory, the first Black toy company in the US, dedicated to producing dolls and games that would build pride and spark the imagination of children who rarely saw themselves in the toys available at the time.