Yolanda Flournah-Perkins Creates a Way to Encourage Black Children to Keep Swimming
/The way young minority girls deserve black and brown Barbie dolls, is the same way black girls deserve to see images that represent us across the board. Yolanda Flournah-Perkins maximized the opportunity to do so by creating these adorable, miniature sized swim caps designed especially for black children learning how to swim.
As someone who learned how to swim at the tender age of 3, I’m sure I would have loved to see a brown cartoon plastered on my swim cap. Contrary to popular belief, black people DO swim by the masses and it’s endearing to see that portrayed in the artistic vision behind Swimmie Caps.
By now, we should all understand the importance of representation. Even the research and statistics that go into measuring our abilities like the reports conducted by USA Swimming claiming that 70% of African Americans don’t know how to swim tend to be misleading. The percentages are often times inaccurate depiction of the things that black people, specifically, can do and this is also true when it comes to black swimmers.
In an interview published by ‘Black Enterprise’, the creator of Swimmie Caps made a powerful statement about the purpose of the brand:
“Swimmie Caps is the first swim cap brand to feature images of black and brown kids to not only embrace their natural hair and skin tone but to encourage them to get in the water. Seeing a reflection of themselves on a swim cap isn’t about the graphics or illustration, but more so, it has everything to do with the reality that if African American children see a representation of themselves on a swim cap, it signifies that they too can become an Olympic swimmer or Olympic diver, or play on a water polo team and synchronized swim team.”
The story behind Swimmie Caps has many layers, because it’s not just about thinking of creative ways to encourage black girls to flourish in the water. Not only was this a genius business move powered by #BlackGirlMagic, but it was also a path to redemption for Flournah-Perkins. After spending 3 years in federal prison from 2004-2007, cutting her senior year at the University of Central Florida short, this particular career move was one of the many ways she chose to go about hitting the reset button on her life and start anew. In 2007, she restarted her academia journey and in 2008, graduated cum laude at Florida Gulf Coast University.
Thinking of all the times in my life wanted to quit myself, driven by encapsulated excuses, this woman’s story is a major reality check for me personally. It can be tough to look in the mirror and hold yourself accountable for the life you live, the consequences you’ve endured, and the choices you’ve made. Yolanda Perkins decided to not be defined by her past mistakes.
As Yolanda stood on the TEDxTalks platform as a brand-new woman who refused to be stopped by adversity, she articulated:
“Going to prison taught me how to stop, drop, and roll. It taught me how to put out the fire of my adversity and turn it into an opportunity. That opportunity came in the form of reframing how I saw myself, owning up to my mistakes, and through the power of second chances.”
That’s the most beautiful part about Swimmie Caps is that it encourages young black children to keep swimming, no matter what life throws their way. As they get older, they’ll understand the importance of swimming upstream and embracing all the things that make us unique. There is so much we can learn from the multi-faceted entrepreneur about living our dreams and rising above adversity.
