*Ava DuVernay has become the first Black woman to grace a pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream with a new flavor.
The flavor is called Lights! Caramel! Action!, and PEOPLE reports that it “is made of vanilla ice cream with salted caramel and graham cracker swirls and pieces of chocolate chip cookie dough,” the outlet writes. Ava said she eats this flavor combo ”in real life.”
“First of all, chocolate chip cookie dough. What more needs to be said?” she tells PEOPLE.
“There’s no women of color overall [on Ben & Jerry’s pints]. And so they understood that that’s something that they wanted to change, and I’m happy that I was able to be involved in being a part of that change,” DuVernay says.
READ MORE: Ava DuVernay Unpacks Final Season of ‘Queen Sugar’ | EUR Exclusive
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Ben & Jerry’s has partnered with award-winning director/filmmaker Ava DuVernay to create Lights! Caramel! Action! ice cream and Non-Dairy.All of @ava‘s proceeds will benefit her non-profit, @ARRAYNow! Learn more: https://t.co/4MIuUbRM6r pic.twitter.com/s9WJcz6dYV
— Ben & Jerry’s (@benandjerrys) December 6, 2022
“I’m not taking it too seriously, but I do think that it’s important to walk through doors that have not been opened. And it’s not an accomplishment because someone has closed the door and then opened it. It is an action that needs to be taken,” she continues. “And so I’m glad that they’ve done it. And if I can support that, I’m happy to do it.”
Proceeds from the sales of DuVernay’s Lights! Caramel! Action! ice cream will go to her non-profit, ARRAY Alliance, which aims to create “equitable systems in the entertainment industry.”
“When I thought of [the name], of ‘action’ — that’s what we’re asking people to take. Whether it’s you’re deciding what you want to consume in the way of ice cream, how you feel when you walk out of a film and actually taking action. And not just letting it entertain you, but rising to the challenge of what the story might reveal about history, about people,” Ava tells PEOPLE. “The whole word, ‘action,’ and the idea of it, is a big one for me in my life. Social action, social justice and ice cream.”
The iconic ice cream brand worked with the acclaimed filmmaker to develop the flavor.
“To actually see them doing their work and talking about combinations of things and how flavors work together, it was a fascinating process for someone who’s really interested in the way things work,” she says. “From the packaging to the colors used on the packaging, to the way the flavors came together — they allowed me to be involved in every step in a way that I was leading these moments, leading the work, which I’m used to, because that’s my job. So I enjoyed it.”
The ice cream will be available nationwide starting in January 2023 and will come in both dairy and non-dairy almond milk versions.
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