Dear Editor,
On May 21, 2016 I was listening to a newscast from one of our media houses in which it was stated that Ghana was planning to ban bleaching creams from entering its market as of next summer.
It was said that billions of dollars in foreign exchange were being spent yearly to purchase these skin-lightening creams, and so something had to be done about it.
I smiled wryly when I heard it and thought to myself ‘Good luck with that’, as I believe the horse has already bolted from the barn. Black people no longer see much merit in retaining their blackness, and many see it as being antithetical to their ‘getting ahead in life’, and no person, entity or Government will stand in the way of them liberating themselves from the shackles of dark skin.
Coloured people know that long hair, long eyelashes and tattoos do not wear well on a dark canvas, and if they are going to paint the perfect picture they want to, then they must be allowed to lighten themselves as a part of their inalienable human right in order to “step up inna life”.
The black peoples of the world who continue to hanker after equality with all other races are in a quandary as to what exactly they need to do in order to gain acceptance and respect. In their minds, skin lightening is a major part of the solution. However, let me once again remind us that if we were to harken to the call of Marcus Garvey in his philosophies and opinions to cultivate greatness for ourselves in the areas of science, economy and technology, then we would be given our due respect, and very little attention would be paid to how we looked. In other words, if we were doing well in school all over the world, being very productive, innovative and disciplined, and if our African continent was making a good account of herself in the world by being a main player in the global arena, we would not have to ask if or remind anyone that black lives matter.
So, until and unless we show the world that we are their equal in tangible and substantial ways that count, we will be continuously marginalised and abused going after colour equity illusions to be pursued but never attained. Up, Ye mighty race!
Darolyn Henry-Cross MSc, BA, Dip
hdaro36@yahoo.com
On May 21, 2016 I was listening to a newscast from one of our media houses in which it was stated that Ghana was planning to ban bleaching creams from entering its market as of next summer.
It was said that billions of dollars in foreign exchange were being spent yearly to purchase these skin-lightening creams, and so something had to be done about it.
I smiled wryly when I heard it and thought to myself ‘Good luck with that’, as I believe the horse has already bolted from the barn. Black people no longer see much merit in retaining their blackness, and many see it as being antithetical to their ‘getting ahead in life’, and no person, entity or Government will stand in the way of them liberating themselves from the shackles of dark skin.
Coloured people know that long hair, long eyelashes and tattoos do not wear well on a dark canvas, and if they are going to paint the perfect picture they want to, then they must be allowed to lighten themselves as a part of their inalienable human right in order to “step up inna life”.
The black peoples of the world who continue to hanker after equality with all other races are in a quandary as to what exactly they need to do in order to gain acceptance and respect. In their minds, skin lightening is a major part of the solution. However, let me once again remind us that if we were to harken to the call of Marcus Garvey in his philosophies and opinions to cultivate greatness for ourselves in the areas of science, economy and technology, then we would be given our due respect, and very little attention would be paid to how we looked. In other words, if we were doing well in school all over the world, being very productive, innovative and disciplined, and if our African continent was making a good account of herself in the world by being a main player in the global arena, we would not have to ask if or remind anyone that black lives matter.
So, until and unless we show the world that we are their equal in tangible and substantial ways that count, we will be continuously marginalised and abused going after colour equity illusions to be pursued but never attained. Up, Ye mighty race!
Darolyn Henry-Cross MSc, BA, Dip
hdaro36@yahoo.com