Director Ava DuVernay has become the first Black woman to be featured on a Ben Jerry's pint.
The Unilever-owned UL, ice cream brand announced Tuesday that the Emmy-award winning director and filmmaker behind 13th, When They See Us and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. biopic Selma are being recognized with her own flavor, Lights! Ava DuVernay is directed. The creamy confection mixes vanilla ice cream with salted caramel swirls, graham cracker swirls and chocolate chip cookie dough for $6.49.
There is no women of color on Ben Jerry's pints, and so they understood that they wanted to change, and I am happy to be involved in being part of that change, DuVernay told People.
DuVernay dished that she had a direct hand in coming up with her creamy concoction. She has a personal favorite flavor combination. The name draws on her hope of calling people to action.
When I thought of the name of action, that is what we are asking people to take, she told People. The idea of action and the whole word action is a big one for me in my life. Social justice, social action and ice cream are some of the things that are important for society. It's fitting that proceeds from the sales of her signature flavor will benefit her nonprofit, the ARRAY Alliance, to further the mission of inclusion and belonging in the film and television industries, as she explained in a statement. She added that her Ben Jerry's flavor is a worthy and delicious endeavor, beyond being downright delicious. Matthew McCarthy, Ben Jerry's CEO, said in a statement that Framing this up as a new flavor for the first Black woman to be featured partner on our pints doesn't do Ava justice. We are humbled by her partnership, impressed by her work sharing not only the struggle but the joy in justice, and we are inspired by her commitment and vision. DuVernay was the first African American woman to win the best director at the Sundance Film Festival, be nominated for a best Golden Globe, manage a film nominated for a best picture Oscar and direct a film with a budget of more than $100 million.
The Lights! The flavor is already available on the Ben Jerry's website. And will start shipping across the country and showing up in the brand's franchised Scoop Shops in January 2023 in both dairy and non-dairy almond milk versions.