Community news. The idea of bleaching one’s skin to be more acceptable to the west or western media is absurd. It is troubling that so many African and Caribbean women, in particular, are investing in products designed to whiten skin in order to be accepted into mainstream society while being totally oblivious to the fact that the same organisations they yearn to please or pander to for an income are laughing at how desperate some Black folks are to belong. Is it worth the alienation, the banishment, the chastisement and the scorn from your own people? What values will you pass to your children? What exactly will you tell them about your history? How will you explain their natural complexion to them when they realise you are lighter than them and all their other relatives (providing of course your partner is Black)?
Cameroonian Irene Major, before and after. Photo courtesy 247nigerianewsupdate.co
It’s a nonsense, this obsession to disregard one’s heritage for a buck or to overcome reversible insecurities. We are a beautiful people with talent and a remarkable history and quite frankly a wonderful future if only we took the time to learn about ourselves, study our history and work together as a community…We need to wake up and embrace the light! The following interview may upset some of you while to others you might think the woman interviewed is well within her right to wash away her heritage.
