Despite winning an Academy Award and gracing the cover of numerous prestigious magazines worldwide that illuminate her gorgeous visage, Lupita Nyong’o still feels the sting of dark-skinned hate — even in places where Whites are not the dominant demographic.
Nyong’o, who earned her Oscar for 12 Years a Slave and also shined in the Jordan Peele horror film Us, was motivated by her life experiences as a stunning yet midnight-black beauty. Melanin-rich skin, she testified, is still viewed as a hindrance or handicap, even in Africa.
This motivated Nyong’o to pen a book on the subject matter.
“As a little girl reading, I had all of these windows into the lives of people who looked nothing like me, chances to look into their worlds, but I didn’t have any mirrors,” Nyong’o wrote on Twitter, “mirrors help us develop our sense of self, and our understanding of our own world.”
This is 5-year-old me. I reflected on this little girl's feelings and fantasies when I decided to write my children's book, #Sulwe. With this book, I wanted to hold up a mirror for her. Here's why: pic.twitter.com/KsivFjWl7X
— Lupita Nyong'o (@Lupita_Nyongo) October 1, 2019
Pernicious colorism even exists in her home country in East Africa, which mystifies and pains the actress.
I imagined what it would have been like for her to turn the pages of picture books and see more dark skin in a beautiful light. This book is my dream come true for kids like her today. #Sulwe arrives Oct 15! https://t.co/O04OLLXuzn #BrightnessIsJustWhoYouAre #NationalBookMonth
— Lupita Nyong'o (@Lupita_Nyongo) October 1, 2019
#Sulwe holds up a mirror for dark-skinned children especially, to see themselves reflected immediately, and it is a window for all the others to cherish peering into.
— Lupita Nyong'o (@Lupita_Nyongo) October 1, 2019
Nyong’o has previously addressed the corrosive impact that repudiation of dark skin has. It can erode the mind and soul over time like acid.
Nyong’o told Glamour in 2014 that European standards of beauty “plague the entire world.
“The idea that darker skin is not beautiful, that light skin is the key to success and love,” she said.
