i was sitting at work reading emails and catching up on the news when Lupita N'yongo & a couple of other celebrities popped up on my screen. i clicked the link and there she was, named the worlds most beautiful woman! i couldn't stop staring at that screen and i started tearing up. for a millisecond, i had forgotten where i was and i had pull myself together. What a dream! Black is beautiful indeed.
Lupita not only exudes beauty, but grace and class and everything in between. she's sweet, humble and confident. she's everything i've longed to see in Hollywood. Lupita is a breath of fresh air! with her infectious smile & charming personality, she graces the red carpet as if she were a QUEEN. She's so perfect, it hurts, but a feel good hurt. Have you ever seen anyone wear a teeny weeny Afro in so many different styles? i certainly haven't. i honestly don't remember the first time i saw her. all i know is that i got the same feeling about her as i did when i first saw Alek Wek grace the runway. i was mesmerized & thrilled. representation is EVERYTHING, people. being able to see characters on television that look like you, gives you a sense of identity and importance. this goes for every culture. little black girls need to see women that look like them represented in every career out there & especially on television-- which seems to be the most influential outlet. it let's them know that they, too, are important & can be what ever they want to be when they grow up. they also need to know that, in the words of Lupita, "their dreams are valid".
Lupita's presence in hollywood & on magazine covers is destroying insecurities & doubt and it's creating self love & dreams. many little girls who look like her might, at some point in their life--myself included, have felt less than, not pretty or even been told so simply because their skin isn't "fair". If all you see is fair skin representing beauty, as a black girl, you start to think, "Well maybe I'm not beautiful. if i look like her people will think I'm beautiful too." so it is up to us to not only tell them, but show them that they too are beautiful. as a child, i was always told i was beautiful, inside and out. beauty is more than just what is on the outside, it's what's on the inside. my mother never taught me what skin color was until it was pointed out to me as a child at school. i have noticed how darker skin is not as celebrated as lighter skin. that's something i cannot wrap my mind around. we are surrounded by hierarchy, even in skin tone. that is painful to think about and even more painful to see. . so to see Lupita be celebrated gives me hope that the world is changing and we all can be celebrated and successful, no matter what we look like or where we come from. although i do feel that we have a long way to go and this is only the beginning.
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