Have You Been Kendrick Lamar'd Yet? A Blind Look at Colorism

I encountered a conversation the other day that brought about a dire need to answer this question: "Why is it that conscious and enlightened minds have to be restricted to a darker skinned woman in order to keep from catching hell in the black community?
Simple question right? Of course...However, experience has taught me that simple questions often yield complex results. This question has been asked throughout quite a few generations and this question falls under the topic of colorism. Just recently rapper Kendrick Lamar was called out by "Dark Skin Is Beautiful" founder and activist Rashida Strober for being engaged to his fiance who is bi-racial (Black and Hispanic). He was called everything from "hypocrite" to "another fake conscious mutherf***r" which stemmed from his song Complexion (A Zulu Love) where he celebrates and seemingly embraces those women with darker complexions.

What some may not realize is colorism dates back as far as the days of slavery. History has told us that when slavery was in existence the slaves of a more light complexion were called "house slaves" which were usually offsprings' of one of the slaves and the master. Their duties usually consisted of cleaning cooking and caring for the children, while those of the darker complexion were limited to only outside work therefore giving the impression that the house slaves were better. In the 1960's when the rise of social groups such as The Black Panther Party and more awakening" black music there was a great wave of support for those of darker skin color. The saying went something like "the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice", and "my black is beautiful" dark was the thing to be it was beauty.

Once the 1980's came along and society then begin to spread its diversity in its music, fashion and television, and you had beautiful women such as Jane Kennedy-Overton (1st female sports broadcasters) Debbie Allen (Broadway and TV actress) and Miki Howard (singer) who came with such golden smooth skin and the beauty that was once admired slowly lost it light.

By the early 2000's it seemed to have then turned into an all out battle of the light skin vs the dark skin, which skin color was better? It is this same attitude that is still rampant and current within today society within music, fashion magazines, and even within some workplaces. An article written in Vibe magazine in 2013 listed 20 rap songs that referenced light skin and dark skin women
and well lets just say there were a whole lot more light references than dark. I have strong hopes that future generations will soon put an end to the self hate within our own community where all shades of African-American will be accepted. I applaud movements such as "Black Girls Rock" and "Black Lives Matter" where we as as race of all colors become united as one. It is movements such as these that truly show the progression of breaking the colorism. It is my hope that one day we can all stand as united and colorism is no more...



Peace and Blessings
Swagg P

Photo Credit: Facebook.com/SanCophaLeague


















"Buzzworthy Cravings, Creatively Satisfied!"