Now, this is something that’s long overdue!
Bellen Woodard recently launched a crayon line that focuses on brown skin tones. She’s fittingly called it More Than Peach.
She was inspired to make the crayon line when she was in class. Her classmates asked for the skin-colored crayon, and it was peach-colored because they were white.
Woodard took some issue with this, since the crayon did not match her brown skin color.
She went to her mother and told her how uncomfortable she felt that people assumed a peach-colored crayon was the only default skin color.
She chose to change the narrative by telling her classmates that a skin-colored crayon doesn’t only mean peach. It can be any number of colors to reflect the various shades of skin that exist in the world.
Her words changed their perspective, and even the teacher started to mirror her words when different students asked for skin-colored crayons. Before long, a whole class had stopped assuming that skin-colored crayon was peach.
After seeing the impact her words had on those around her, Bellen decided to do something bigger. She spoke to her mom, got her support, and founded More Than Peach. She created it in 2019, when she was still only 8 years old.
Her main goal was to give every student and classroom multicultural crayons, and that’s exactly what she did.
She started out by sending out art products that included diverse crayon colors with customized art kits to various local middle and elementary classrooms. She gave them to youth who could not afford them.
Since she wasn’t selling the products, she raised funds through a school-supported fundraiser. She also financed More Than Peach through her own money that she earned from doing a modeling job.
Demand soon skyrocketed, and More Than Peach became famous around the country.
The company soon evolved into more than just a multicultural crayon line. It became a mission where Bellen is hosting various events revolving around diversity and equality.
In addition to the popular crayons, More Than Peach also currently sells sketchbooks and colored pencils.
watch below:
