*The black community addressed colorism and its impact on darker-skinned black women. But light-skinned women are also impacted by issues surrounding their color and have been since childhood, according to The Huffington Post.
Bill Duke explores the pain, privilege and prejudice of light-skinned women in his new documentary, “Light Girls,” which is a spin-off of “Dark Girls.”
According to Life coach Iyanla Vanzant, hurtful words and name calling affects younger people as they move into their adulthood.
“I think the impact that colorism has on young girls — light girls and dark girls — leave scars on the soul that live well into womanhood,” she said.
The documentary highlight the shame, prejudice and bullying different entertainers and media personalities who gone through in their childhood and how it affected them in their adulthood.
“I was made to feel that something about what I had or looked like was somehow both special and yet disliked, hated,” actress Cynthia McWilliams said. “[It was] something to be embraced and/or fear.”
“They wanted to cut one of my ponytails off. I’m going, ‘Why? Why do you even care, what is the big deal? I think that we’re not taught to value one another enough,” singer Chante Moore added.
“I’m sure that it feels like, ‘Oh poor little you, light girl. Everyone was kind of paying attention to you,'” Essence Atkins said. “But the lightness of my skin didn’t insulate me from questioning my worthiness of being black.”
Media personality Connie Deveaux became emotional recounting her childhood and the damaging words she heard about her so-called skin-tone privilege.
She was told she was “too white” and thought she was “better than everybody else.” “I never thought I was any of those things. And it made me not like myself,” she said.
Diahann Carroll, Kym Whitley and Raven-Symone also opened up about their harsh experiences as light-skinned black women.
“When I had my own show, I used to tan three or four times a week in a tanning bed to get darker. I did,” Raven-Symone revealed in the new doc in reference to her show, “That’s So Raven.”
“Light Girls” premieres Monday, Jan. 19, 2015 at 9 p.m. ET on Own.
Watch the trailer below:
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
