*Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o continues to use her platform to speak out against colorism, which she says “is the daughter of racism” in “a world that rewards lighter skin over darker skin.”
Nyong’o was raised in Kenya before moving to the United States, and she tells BBC Newsnight that it wasn’t until she arrived in America that she saw how people were divided by race.
“Race is a very social construct, one that I didn’t have to ascribe to on a daily basis growing up,” she says. “As much as I was experiencing colorism in Kenya, I wasn’t aware that I belonged to a race called Black.”
The actress recently released a new children’s book that she hopes will serve as a ‘mirror’ for dark-skinned children who don’t often see images of themselves in mainstream media.
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(March 18, 2019 – Source: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images North America)
In a lengthy post on social media, Nyong’o said her own experiences with colorism discrimination is why she wrote, “Sulwe,” which means ‘star.’
“Colorism, society’s preference for lighter skin, is alive and well. It’s not just a prejudice reserved for places with a largely white population. Throughout the world, even in Kenya, even today, there is a popular sentiment that lighter is brighter”, she wrote.
“I definitely grew up feeling uncomfortable with my skin colour because I felt like the world around me awarded lighter skin,” the “Black Panther” star told Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis.
She said her younger sister, whose skin was lighter, was called “beautiful” and “pretty”.
“We still ascribe to these notions of Eurocentric standards of beauty, that then affect how we see ourselves among ourselves,” she said.
Lupita was once told at an audition that she was “too dark” for television.
Asked whether the success of Marvel’s “Black Panther,” has had an impact on the casting experience for Black actors, Nyong’o told Newsnight: “I think time will tell whether this has been that pivotal shift. It definitely feels that way.”
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