It's been a long week. Emotionally. The great labor and civil rights leader, Fannie Lou Hamer, once said "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired." If she were alive today, I'm pretty sure she'd say "fcuk this shid" (but she was saved so she might not). Everyday WOC combat erasure. The insidious process by which everything about us gets minimized, mitigated, washed away or flat out ignored. Our pain is ignored, our struggle is ignored, our truths are ignored. In no place do we get ignored more than the beauty world. Model
Nykhor Paul nicely handed white makeup artists their asses to them in an IG post where she summed it up succintly, "Dear white people in the fashion world!
Please don't take this the wrong way but it's time you people get your shit right when it comes to our complexion" She also said that makeup is art and art is never racist (that's debatable but you get the idea). I love makeup, we know this. What I would love more is more black and brown faces in print magazines, in ads, on the runway, on blogs, on YouTube, alladat. A cover with 3 black women isn't cutting the mustard. No shade
Teen Vogue but in addition to perpetuating poor body images of young girls, y'all don't know that black women come in more colors than just beige? Fa'real? Am I supposed to applaud y'all cause y'all finally realized Black Gurlz are magic, in 2015? Vogue, bye! Fight against the forces that tell you you're too black, or brown, or olive, or yellow, or women, or feminine, not feminine, and would rather see you wither on the vine than thrive and be alive. And don't forget your mascara when you do it!
