I grew up in a suburb in the heart of Texas. A suburb where I felt like a black speck in a sea of white flesh. Surrounded by a vast amount of porcelain skin, pink cheeks and paper thin hair. I grew up watching television shows and movies that were saturated with light complexions and made little room for anything besides that. So with all of this playing a huge part in my youth, I felt the features that I had weren't okay.
I don't want to exaggerate my childhood's struggles and say that I was never accepted by my peers because of our physical differences, because that's not true. But what is true is that there still wasn't a complete comfort with myself and the skin I was trapped in. There was always an unexpected verbal attack about my very apparent African features that I was't equipped for and a deep doubt in being perceived as beautiful in a society that praises lighter skin and eyes and thinner hair and noses. This was what made me unsure of my identity growing up.
In Media and Hollywood although they do accept black women, they don't accept them fully. Neither Media or Hollywood respects the many backgrounds, features, cultures and personalities a black woman can have. They keep our identity in a box that is impossible for many to fit into.
My movie is about this issue that I could go on for days about. The exclusion, the degrading, and the restrictions of black women in Media and Hollywood.
I don't want to exaggerate my childhood's struggles and say that I was never accepted by my peers because of our physical differences, because that's not true. But what is true is that there still wasn't a complete comfort with myself and the skin I was trapped in. There was always an unexpected verbal attack about my very apparent African features that I was't equipped for and a deep doubt in being perceived as beautiful in a society that praises lighter skin and eyes and thinner hair and noses. This was what made me unsure of my identity growing up.
In Media and Hollywood although they do accept black women, they don't accept them fully. Neither Media or Hollywood respects the many backgrounds, features, cultures and personalities a black woman can have. They keep our identity in a box that is impossible for many to fit into.
My movie is about this issue that I could go on for days about. The exclusion, the degrading, and the restrictions of black women in Media and Hollywood.