Dark Girls

Reposted from hautegoodgirl.com

What with the all-black high-fashion magazine spreads celebrating women of color, the BLACK GIRLS ROCK! Awards show, My Black is Beautiful movement and television show, and and an endless number of efforts designed to help black women of all shades feel comfortable in their own skin, it's shocking to consider that many of our chocolate sisters don't feel so beautiful or empowered. This was brought to my attention recently while I watched the trailer for the upcoming documentary Dark Girls. It truly saddened me to listen to women recount stories, many stemming from childhood, that spoke of rejection and self-hatred. It hurt me that I looked at these women and saw some beauty in them while many of them didn't even see beauty in themselves.  Some of these sentiments were expressed several ways in the trailer:

"I can remember being in the bathtub asking my mom to put bleach in the water so that my skin would be lighter and so that I could escape the feelings I had about not being as beautiful, as acceptable, as lovable."

"They used to say, 'You stayed in the oven too long.' "

"It was so damaging ... it made it seem like we weren't wanted; that we were less than."

This documentary, set to release this fall, is confirmation that colorism is still very much alive and well in the black community. But now that it's being brought to forefront and the big screen, the question that begs to be answered is if we will finally put an end to it.

Watch the video: