Black Beauty
Cori Broadus recently spoke about being bullied for having dark skin. Her experiences left her feeling depressed and suicidal prompting her to try and take her own life. Cori is a beautiful girl with gorgeous skin but some people have been brainwashed into thinking that dark skin is unattractive. Due to racism and colorism, the film, television and music industries often select light skinned women to be the love interest in movies, television shows and music videos. Racially ambiguous light skinned women have now become the standard of beauty in Black communities. Black women come in all shades so it's important for dark skinned women to be portrayed in roles where they are celebrated for their beauty.
Lupita Nyong'o has spoken out about her experiences with colorism and texturism. In November 2017, Lupita tweeted that she was disappointed at Grazia Magazine for editing out and smoothing her hair 'to fit a more Eurocentric notion of what beautiful hair looks like'. Lupita went into further detail on Instagram saying that she grew up 'thinking light skin and straight, silky hair were standards of beauty'. She went on to say that she now knows that her 'dark skin and kinky, coily hair are beautiful too'. Lupita said that being featured on magazine covers gives her 'an opportunity to show other dark, kinky-haired people, and particularly our children, that they are beautiful just the way they are'.
My 12 year old niece went to a school with few Black people and her White class mates would ask her why her hair was different to their hair. Her mother and I are both natural but my niece didn't see many people in the media with afro textured hair. By the time that she was five she had begun to desire flowing hair like her class mates. As she grew older more Black girls joined her school and she began to see other children with hair like hers. My niece now loves her hair and she enjoys wearing it in different natural styles. She recently told me that Beyoncé is one of the people who helped her to embrace her afro textured hair.
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| @beyonce via Instagram |
Beyoncé is known for wearing wigs and hair extensions which have helped her to keep her natural hair protected.Wigs are a great way for people to switch up their style while helping people to retain their length. The Ancient Egyptians would wear wigs on a regular basis so wigs have been a part of Black beauty for centuries. Beyoncé has worn her hair in a number of natural styles throughout her career and she has celebrated afro textured hair in her music. In Formation Beyoncé sings; "I like my baby heir with baby hair and afros" and the video features Blue Ivy wearing her hair in a beautiful afro. In the 2016 Super Bowl Halftime show, several Black women with gorgeous afro's danced alongside Beyoncé as she performed Formation in front of millions of people. In Brown Skin Girl Beyoncé celebrates afro textured hair as she sings: "I love everything about you, from your nappy curls" and "I think tonight she might braid her braids". The song also fights against colorism as it uplifts women with dark skin.
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| @serenawilliams via Instagram |
Serena Williams is often praised for her beautiful body which is the result of hard work and genetics. Black women are gorgeous in all shapes and sizes but there are health benefits associated with having an athletic figure. Black women in America and the UK have higher rates of obesity which can lead to fibroids, heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. When we build muscle we speed up our metabolism which helps us to burn more calories at rest. Burning more calories than we consume helps to reduce our waist size lowering our risk of various illnesses.
Oprah Winfrey has been very open about her struggles to lose weight. In this interview with Dr Oz, Oprah said that she used food as an emotional suppressant. Oprah told Dr Oz that she never felt stressed while working on The Oprah Winfrey Show because she 'ate the stress'. Oprah explained that food helped to calm her anxiety and she came to depend on it in a similar way that an alcoholic depends on alcohol. These days Oprah is determined to stay in good health so she finds other things to ease her stress. I can definitely relate to Oprah because I've used food as a source of comfort in the past. I created appletohourglass.com to share my weight loss experiences with others.
We all have different blessings. Oprah struggles with her weight but she's been blessed with a thick head of hair that many mistake for weave. In this video Oprah allows Chris Rock to run his fingers through her scalp so he could see that her hair was real. Oprah has natural afro textured hair which normally wears straight. Her hair stylist Nicole says that Oprah has her hair deep conditioned twice a week and a heat protectant is used prior to heat styling.
Aaliyah truly was One in a Million. She was one of the first celebrities to dye her hair using the two toned Ombré technique, setting a trend that is still popular to this day. Aaliyah spoke candidly to Sophisticates Black Hair magazine about her hair routine explaining that her stylist would apply Sebastian Laminates Drops to her natural hair prior to straightening it with heat styling tools. Aaliyah would wrap her hair at night to maintain the style which would last about 10 days. Aaliyah sometimes wore sew in weaves to protect her long natural hair from breakage. Aaliyah was beautiful inside and out and she is sadly missed. 🕊
In 2012, I created a natural hair bookazine encouraging people to accept their God-given beauty. I interviewed hair stylist and YouTuber Pretty Dimples and asked her to give some advice to women who were worried that their natural hair would prevent them from finding love. Pretty Dimples gave the following advice: "If you want to go natural be comfortable in your own skin and love the way you look and not what a man will like and you will find someone who loves your look." Wise words indeed.
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| @kelsiacadet via Instagram |
It's important to feel good about ourselves but we should remember that 'the LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart' (1 Samuel 16:7). When judgement day comes, we're going to be judged on the way that we lived our lives - not our physical appearance. Proverbs 31:30 tells us that "Beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised."