Not only are the forces of mass media; television, magazines, movies and social media a constant destruction of the confidence of black women, so to are the very people in our lives. Our own black communities are telling us that black people with dark features are not enough. We are told by our own people that dark hair and dark eyes and dark skin is ugly. Our very own dark people praise those of lighter skin and hail them as the most beautiful of our race. But why?
The pure beauty of people of color is the that fact that our shades, facial features and body types are so varied. The westernized ideal of beauty was made to praise one particular type of beauty and if everyone bends themselves to fit that one type of beauty, we'll all the look the same and where is the beauty in that?
"Imagine A Future" highlights a major issue among young black women, that of not finding the pure essence of who they are beautiful. A solution, we, black people as a whole need to reinforce the beauty of who we are individually and as a whole to ourselves and one another. Instead of constantly praising western beauty, we need to embrace our own beauty as seen through our art, culture and history. There is a reason why other cultures are constantly taking the things that we have created.
Talk and read about black history. Explore the history of your ancestors from Africa. Watch black movies, television shows and documentaries. Take part in creating a better world for our children to grow up in. Create a space for children to believe in their beauty from childhood. Hang paintings of black art. Tell your fellow black sisters and brothers, that they are beautiful. Make a statement to Willie Lynch that we will not be pitied against each other anymore. That whether we are light, dark, brown or biracial, we are are beautiful in our own right.
I believe that my Black is Beautiful because it has been poetically designed that way. What makes your Black Beautiful?
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