The idioms stereotype and picaninny are lost in translation. People hear, see and feel these words yet ignore that these expressions are exploited in every form and fashion today.
Buckwheat’s Journey… is a young adult fiction, with a light-hearted yet evocative perspective of stereotype/picaninny that addresses social skills, self-esteem, and bullying and conflict resolution. Set in Chicago, Buckwheat re- enters the 21st century as a doll and clashes with black classy female dolls because of social and cultural differences. When Buckwheat says, “Otay, whateva yuh say,” realization sets in.
Thirteen-year old JESSICA collects African-American female dolls that have a touch of class and sophistication. One day her father BOB JOHNSON brings home a male doll BUCKWHEAT for her display case. When midnight strikes, the dolls come to life and Buckwheat finds himself in the middle of an altercation with the female dolls SOPHISTICATED LADY, SATIN DOLL, CHELSEA, NALO, HEARTS, AMAZING GRACE, DANIELLE, SHAWNA, detesting his outlandish appearance and deplorable dialect. After Buckwheat endures two days of mistreatment by the female dolls, he ultimately gets kick out of the display case. Jessica, as well as her parents, senses that something mysterious is happening inside the display case but has little time to figure it out because the next day they are traveling to Europe. In their absence, the female dolls drag Buckwheat to the bookshelf to give him a brief history lesson about his stereotype image, through the lens of white America perception of black America. During the course of the lesson, the housekeeper arrives. The females lock Buckwheat out of the display case, leaving him defenseless. Buckwheat accidentally falls on top of the book Big Minstrel Jubilee. While examining the book, the pictures magically come to life and suck Buckwheat’s body inside, which begins his stimulating yet precarious journey that leads to his transformation from the inside out.
