Melissa and her two daughters, Africa, 8, and Esi Orijin, 10, are making history by making it to Oprah’s Favorite Things list for the second time.
According to a release cited by Black News, Oprah first acknowledged the family’s Cuddle Bees Collection in 2021 with its Baby Bee Doll Collection. The dolls are under the company Orijin Bees, founded by Melissa and her daughter Esi to create a world where kids could acknowledge themselves in their toys.
While going to school in her early years, Esi couldn’t find anyone who looked like her as she was the only Black girl in her class. Due to the lack of representation, she started losing confidence in herself and her features. To fight the self-confidence issues many Black girls like her and Black women in general face, her mom Melissa launched Orijin Bees (“Our Representation Is Just Inclusion Normalized Beautifully Empowering Every Soul”) with her.
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Melissa and Esi were particularly driven by a desire to address an absence of diversity in the toy business, leading them to develop dolls that honor and center Black and Brown children, giving them a concrete means of feeling appreciated and noticed.
Orijin Bees is now honored to have been included in Oprah’s Favorite Things, an annual selection of carefully chosen goods that honor excellence and compelling storytelling.
The excited mom expressed, “We are beyond grateful to be recognized by Oprah once again. It is our joy and commitment to provide all children with products that foster self-confidence and a deep sense of belonging.”
Their line of plush dolls, which has a variety of skin tones and curly hairstyles, is made to give comfort and confidence, encouraging self-love and a positive self-image in children from an early age.
