Rosie White has more than 100,000 Instagram followers and has made multiple national appearances thanks to the popularity of her humorous takes on Black history.
She’s 10.
White, whose real name is Robyn McKee, got her start making Black history videos in 2020 as a preschooler, posting TikTok and Instagram videos of her impersonations of historical and influential figures like Harriet Tubman, Malcolm X and Stevie Wonder.
The Detroiter has also educated and entertained people around the world with her takes on more current figures such as former First Lady Michelle Obama and former Vice President Kamala Harris, and she recreates scenes of classic Black movies and TV shows, from “The Color Purple,” and “Why Did I Get Married?” to “Sanford and Son.”
Online users are enjoying White’s content, sending her positive comments on social media. In a recent video where she impersonated boxer Claressa Shields, one user on Instagram wrote, “You are something special, can’t wait to see you on the big screen.” Another wrote, “Rosie, you’re going places.”
Rosie’s mother, Kenya White, said highlighting Black history is always the key for the videos. When the elder White was a child, she felt she only learned the negative parts of Black history in school and wanted to make a point of uplifting people who have made contributions to society, whether that’s Black inventors, artists or athletes.
“I wanted to teach her something different, that she can be Angela Bassett or Viola Davis, any Black person that she wants to be,” Kenya White said. When we make videos that’s not Black history, it’s more so current events just to make people laugh and to keep the algorithm going with our content.”
Rosie told BridgeDetroit that her first video came to life in preschool when she had a Black History Project on Rosa Parks.
“They (my teachers) gave my mama a script so she can read it off to me,” White recalled. “I was only three or four (years old). She was like, ‘OK, Rosie. Go ahead and tell me what you learned.’”
White recited the script, remembering every word. Kenya White was impressed.
“I’m like, ‘wait a minute. What’s going on?’” Kenya White said. “So, I went around the house and I collected everything I could find that looked like Rosa Parks. I put it on her, and I was like, ‘Say it again,’ and she did. I posted it (the video) for family and friends, and that was our first viral video. We’ve never looked back.”
The videos have since opened opportunities for White and her family, such as walking the purple carpet with Oprah Winfrey for the 2023 musical of “The Color Purple,” appearing on the “Tamron Hall Show” in January, and attending the late Jesse Jackson’s funeral in Chicago earlier this month.
A family production
Kenya White, 48, calls herself and her daughters the “Big 3.”
While Rosie is the star of the show, the videos are a team effort, with Kenya White and Rosie’s older sister, A’Blesyn Davis, coming up with ideas. Kenya White also handles the costume design, and Davis shoots and edits the videos.
“I’m a creator, she (Davis) is into film, and she (Rosie) is a great actress,” she said.
Davis, 20, has learned new techniques while making videos for her sister, such as having Rosie appear on screen as three different characters in a recent Claressa Shields video or creating multiple images of her. That was the case when Rosie appeared as a mariachi band while recreating a scene from “The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps.”
Davis, now studying film at Wayne State University, said she can take what she learned in class and apply it to Rosie’s videos.
“It helps because it benefits Rosie, but it also benefits me in school because I can take that home and practice it and then better it for later on when I have to work on a project for school,” she said.
Kenya White attributes her love of costume design to Halloween, her favorite holiday. She buys all of her daughter’s outfits and wigs from thrift stores or she makes them herself. A recent example is Kenya White adding balloons to a pink coat to resemble a floor-length chinchilla coat boxer Claressa Shields wore last month at a pre-fight press conference.
“I can just go into a thrift store and eye it from across the room,” Kenya White said about selecting outfits. “With the Claressa Shields balloon outfit, we always wanted to make it kid-friendly and funny. Of course, she (Shields) had the fur, which is a very nice fur, but I’m like, ‘I’m going to do it with balloons to give that it factor.’”
Rosie said her mother was “sitting on the floor,” mimicking blowing up a balloon.
“She was like, ‘Rosie, go try the coat on,’” Rosie said.
When it comes to the negative side of social media, Kenya White said she was initially upset at some of the nasty comments her daughter would receive, but now she doesn’t pay much attention and just deletes them. Rosie will read some of the comments while Kenya White will read them all, she said.
“They (online users) can be really mean online, but I’ve gotten thicker skin and I don’t want to beat them up anymore. I just pray for them,” Kenya White said.
Out of all the people she’s impersonated over the years, Rosie said her favorites have been Michelle Obama, Tina Turner, Harriet Tubman and Whoopi Goldberg. For future videos, she wants to do a scene from the show “Everybody Hates Chris,” and impersonate Janet Jackson and actress Kyla Pratt.
When she grows up, Rosie sees herself working as an actress, model and stand-up comedian. Meanwhile, Davis wants to go into set design or cinematography.
Kenya White said she’s still amazed at the reactions the videos get online.
“When we first started, it was just a camera phone, thrifted items and us just doing it for fun,” she said. “For us to get the reach we’re getting is really amazing. It never gets old, we’re still humbled about it. We’re forever grateful.”