Doll diversity showing up in toy aisles

One of the few items on the Christmas list of Emily Noreen's 4-year-old daughter is a doll she can call her own.

"I want her to have something preferably that looks like her, which is hard because their father is African-American, and I'm white," Noreen said.

So she was heartened to find more than one option in the Our Generation line, a less-expensive alternative to American Girl, while perusing the toy aisles of Target. After some deliberation, she picked out a doll named Nahla, whose skin is a bit darker than her daughter's but whose curly hair was pretty close to her daughter's.

Richard Barry, chief merchandising officer for Toys R Us, said the changes in the toy aisles are happening as toymakers and retailers finally listen to customers' demands for more diversity.

"We hear from customers," he said. "We get applauded on the things we have, but they are also very keen to tell us the things we don't or the things they would like us to have. We feed that back to our manufacturing partners."

The need for more multicultural options was one of the insights Toys R Us took to heart when developing its private-label line of dolls called Journey Girls. Launched in 2010 with four dolls, it has expanded to seven dolls of all shades.

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Spared from demolition, 1920s Savannah black schoolhouse being saved

SAVANNAH, Ga. | A one-room schoolhouse built in the 1920s to teach black children on St. Simons Island is making a comeback from years of rot and neglect.

Preservationists saved the Harrington School from scheduled demolition in 2010 and since then have spent about $300,000 to stabilize its deteriorating frame and leaky roof. Recently, the group Friends of the Harrington School announced a grant award that it hopes will bring in $50,000 needed to finish restoring the schoolhouse’s interior.

Read more: Spared from demolition, 1920s Savannah black schoolhouse being saved

Mississippi church member charged in 'Vote Trump' arson

I was always suspicious about a Trump supporter being behind the arson case involving Hopewell Baptist Church in Greenville Mississippi. The immediate red flag that went up was not that the suspect painted Vote Trump on the side of the church, it was that they spelled it right. George L. Cook III AfricanAmericanReports.Com Watch more on this story below.

Andrew McClinton, a parishioner of at Hopewell Baptist Church in Greenville Mississippi was arrested Wednesday and charged with intentionally setting fire last month to a Mississippi church, which was also vandalized with the words "Vote Trump."

Read more: Parishioner charged with setting fire to Mississippi church

Denzel Washington discusses bringing "Fences" to the big screen

Denzel Washington sat down with 60 minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker and had a interesting discussion about bringing August Wilson's play Fences to the big screen. Watch that interview below.

To those who ask what has President Obama done for African Americans

As we near the end of President Obama's second term there are many compliments and accolades being given to the first black president. There are also those who criticize him for not doing enough for black people. Here is my response to those individuals.