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>> How do you feelwhen somebody says, oh,

she's a pretty black girl?

What do you think?

Do you like that word?

>> No.>> why?

>> Because I don't liketo be called black.

>> Okay, okay, butwhy...Tell me why.

>> Oh, because I'm not black.

>> Okay.

[ Music ]

[ Music continuing ]

>> From 1619 to 1865 wewere essentially cattle

in this county, inthe United States.

We were nothing morethan animals or beasts.

That's 246 years-- imaginethat-- so here visual,

246 years in thecondition of enslavement,

forget beauty we weren'teven human beings.

Then we got emancipationwithout a plan,

from 1865 to 1964 wewere really in a position

of post enslavement,people without real rights

and then hits the civil rightsmovement, 1965 to the present.

Well, if we look at thatthis amount of time in,

this amount of time out butof that time out really only

that much time out because formost of that time from 1619

to 1965 we had no basic rightsin this country, forget beauty.

We weren't even consideredpeople in the eyes

of the law nor in the eyes ofour neighbors in the country

and in the world and sobeauty is just a small piece

of a much bigger animaland until we understand

that much bigger animal wewill never understand the issue

of colorism.

[ Music ]

>> We know during the time

that they were enslaved therewere others who had been either

from birth from raped from slaveowners who had these children

who were somehow differentin complexion from others.

They were stratified withinthat society dependent upon

their complexion.

They were sometimes morethen 64 distinctions in terms

of color shade, hair gradationand those kinds of stuff by name

and the culture, the societywould actually learn these

subtle distinctionsand apply them

such that people then wereallocated status based on that.

>> The racism that we have

as a people amongst ourselvesis a direct backlash of slavery,

the house niggersversus the field niggers,

the paper bag rule, if you'redarker than a paper bag.

>> Well, I know growing

up in Harlem I've heard othersmention things regarding the

paper bag test or beinga member of snow and blow

if your skin was white assnow and it blew in the wind

that gave you some level ofcredibility or desirability.

>> The paper bag test wheni first heard about it,

my mother told me aboutit, if you were lighter

than the brown paper bag thenyou was considered beautiful,

smart, you passed thattest, if you were darker

than that then youwere considered darkand unattractive.

>> I think it has to do withthe history of colonization,

I think that's thefirst piece of it,

the way in which these differentnations have been colonized

over the years largelyby, but not exclusively,

by European armieswho not only in terms

of a physical colonizationof invading these countries

but also a culturalinvasion into these countries

and shifting the perspectiveof people and creating a sense

of beauty, a sense ofidentity, a sense of superiority

and of course in the history ofcolonization people are taught

that the colonizersare the superior.

And you know if the superiorlooks a certain way and you want

to become more elevated inyour self you aspire to this.

>> These mass kinds of tragediesand traumas whether it's a group

of people suffering starvationor holocaust, slavery affect us

on an energetic level.

When you look deeper and deeperinto the atom and smaller

and smaller particles allyou end up with is energy

and vibration and theinteraction of energy waves.

In the vibration ofthe cells and the DNA,

is this energy frequencyof the trauma,

and what a tremendous negativeenergy wave slavery was.

>> What we've been talking aboutand what we spend time with is

to attempt to shift thatinternalized colorism

if you will, the sense thatbeing dark skinned is good,

and we've had moments.

"The blacker the Berry,the sweeter the juice."

"Say it loud,i'm black and I'm proud."

But they've been short moments

because we consistently existin a broader World-Wide,

white supremacistframework, we're color

and one's approximation

of whiteness is valuedaround the world.

[ Background noise ]

>> My mother she got pregnantand married at 15, um,

she was a woman who wasbeautiful, smart, all those,

never tapped into her ability,

and that was my firstexample of black womanhood.

Grew up in a predominantlywhite community

so constantly beingcalled nigger,

black nigger...Black uglynigger, those words together.

Never seeing any exampleson television or in film

of anyone associated withbeauty or softness or kindness

or femininity that lookedlike me and then going

to the welfare camp--that's where I went to,

to the welfare...You knowthe camp for low-income kids--

that's where yousaw the black kids,

and then they were doingthe same thing to me.

"Black, ugly, nigger."And so at that point,

where do you get it from?Where do you pull it from?

>> I think that theseconceptions

about color comefrom within our race.

I feel like certain people whomay have lighter skin that try

to boost their self-esteemand to boost their self-worth

up by putting othersdown because they know

that darker skin I guess isn'tconsidered beautiful and so

that kind of puts themup on that pedestal,

like saying, "hey, i'mmore beautiful than youbecause my skin is fair."

>> You know what's weird?

I get a lot of complimentsabout my complexion

from white people.

They love my skin,and it's sad to say,

but as a younger personcoming up,

white people really mademe appreciate my skin color,

black people mademe question it.

>> A friend of mine had recentlyhad a baby and I was very happy

for her and so you know it wasmy first time seeing a baby

and the baby was beautiful.

She said, "girl, I'm so gladshe didn't come out dark."

And when she said it,it felt like a dagger,

like someone took a daggerand stuck it in my heart

because I was used to expectinghearing things like that

from other races,but this was someone

that I consideredto be my sister.

>> So many of us are trainedeven as children we come up

and shown so many imagesto try to make it a truth,

you know so when you get marriedeverybody is wearing white,

when you go to a funeraleverybody is wearing black.

You know, and day is perfectand fabulous and wonderful,

and night is sinisterand negative,

so we can addressit to ourselves.

So we can connectthe two ourselves.

So we can justifyhating this beautiful,

wonderful color that we have.

>> I think the problemswithin the black community has

to do more with our lack ofunity than about actual racism.

We don't really seeeach other as being part

of the community partly becausewe don't have a language,

we don't have something tangibleaside from our skin color

which as you can seewith, uh, mixed children

sometimes that'snot even present.

I see a lot of timeswithin the black community--

when I say black, I mean anybodyof color, African-American,

African immigrants,caribbean-American--

you have color,to me you're black.

The black community it's like,"no, I'm not black,i'm Caribbean,"

or "I'm not black,i'm Haitian."

You know, to put itin very crass terms,

if the ku klux klan was runningthrough here they're not going

to be like, oh don't hang her,because she's Haitian...

No you're black...We're altogether.

>> I think skin color amongstthe black community is a huge

issue in our time and we stillhear a lot of commentary,

you still hear preferencesand now with like the age

of like the Internet andblogs, now you really get

to see what people are thinking

because they canhide behind computers

and people can maketheir comments

and it's really shocking anddisgusting at the same time

to see a lot of commentsthat are made by black people

about other black people.

>> Just recentlyone of my cousins,

one of my younger cousins, he'sa senior in high school posted

on Facebook on his status ilove white girls, just period,

and nobody can doanything about it.

I commented on his status

and said that's fine just makesure you don't discriminate.

And then one of his friendsposted...It's not you know their

fault that white skin justlooks better on females.

It wasn't so much like ifelt like it was an insult

to me exactly, I mean ijust felt like it was sad

that my...Someone who I knewa young guy who was part

of my family and his friends andthen other people in my family

as well feel that way,like really feel that way,

it just really upset me.

[ Background noise ]

>> Show me the smart child.And why is she the smart child?

>> 'Cause she is white.

>> Okay. show methe dumb child.

And why is she the dumb child.

>> Because she black.

>> Well, show methe ugly child.

And why is she the ugly child?

>> Because she's black.

>> Show me the goodlooking child.

And why is she thegood-looking child?

>> Becauseshe's light-skinned.

>> It's really I thinkimportant that we begin

to understand how earlyin our life that begins

to effect how wesee our identity.

I have a 4-year-oldwho at two years of age

was really beginning todemonstrate to me how the images

that she saw whether it's on thedisney channel or whether it's

in a animation,how different she is

from the imagesthat are betrayed.

>> Raising my daughter,it is very different

from raising my sons,

especially sincei'm not going to know

or I don't really knowher battle and the reason

that I know thatshe has a battle now is

because it has become evident.

She's does not like to be calledblack, she doesn't even collate

like that, she's...We're justlighter brown than she is.

To be honest with you I justnever I never thought about it

until I had her becausei can see it.

I can see the difference, ican see when she is at a party

or at a center or she'sexposed to the playground

or she takes dance classi can see the difference.

I can see how theytreat her differently.

She may not feel it,she may not understand it,

but I know.I know it's there.

>> The impact thatit has on those very,

very young children spirituallyis that they actually start

to devalue themselvesin such a way

where the spiritbegins to shrink.

>> The things I used to dobecause I hated my color I used

to wish I could wake up oneday lighter or wash my face

and think that it willchange or get lighter,

I thought it was dirtand I tried to clean it off,

but it wouldn't come off.

I took my color aftermy father and I used

to hate him because of it.

I think remember mostsaying that you know

if I had a little girl i'djust...I didn't want her

to be dark.

I didn't want herto be dark like me.

>> It's not anythinginherent in the human psyche

to judge people based upon theirskin color, there's nothing

in our DNA that suggests oneshade of color is superior

to another,but it's all politically

and sociologically determinedphenomena and attitude,

so you have to be taught

to discriminate basedupon skin color.

>> I remember being calledtar baby, monkey, gorilla,

magilla gorilla for sale.

>> Your skin is dirty.

>> Here comes blacky,here comes tar baby.

>> I was probably about insecond grade and there was a boy

and he used to tease me allthe time, just relentlessly

for no reason and my teacher,mr. Letchman, asked him,

"why you alwaysbothering Holly?"

He said, "i don'tlike Holly 'causeshe's too black and ugly."

>> I can remember being inthe bathtub asking my mom

to put bleach in the water sothat my skin would be lighter

and so that I could escapethe feelings that I had

about not being as beautiful,as acceptable, as lovable.

>> I remember one inparticular they used

to say you stayed inthe oven too long.

>> I just rememberlooking down at myself

and I didn't think I wasdifferent but obviously I was

if so many otherpeople were saying that

and I just thought okaythen I guess I'm black

and I guess I'm ugly and yeahit still has a little twinge

of hurt when I remember it.

>> When you think about,what could be more superficial

than somebody's skin color?

It's not their mind,it's not their heart,

it's not how decent they areor how hard working they are.

And I think what happens is aperson feels inferior, insecure

and in that they want tofind a way to feel better

about themselves by puttingsomebody else down or looking

down on somebody else.

>> Being in schoolthere was just

such a separation among girlswho were lighter skinned

and girls who weredarker skinned.

>> We were the girls who wouldcatch them in the bathroom

and fight them for no reason.

You know, just becauseshe happened to beborn light skinned

with pretty hair or pretty eyes.

I guess you could saythat would be jealousy

and it was really badbecause in junior high school,

you know the neet, the nair?

For halloweensome people I knew--

wasn't me-- threw ballsof it in their hair

just to take it out,so we were separated,

and it caused a lot of frictionamongst children which now

as an adult just seemsstupid to me.

>> You know our familiesaren't perfect,

our friends are not perfectat some point we have

to acknowledge they are who theyare and they bring some good

and they bring some challengesand so how do you discern

when they're bringing good andembrace that and then realize

when they're bringing some stuffthat's really not so healthy

and say, "you know what?I'm good. You can keep that.

Okay? you can keep that."

>> My mother and her friend,we were driving somewhere.

She's talking to her friendand she's bragging on me.

She said, "my daughteris beautiful,

"she's got great eyelashes,she's got the cheek bones,

she's got great lips,"and then she's going on,

and she adds, "could you imagineif she had any lightness

in her skin at all?She'd be gorgeous!"

And just that lastlittle part just...

All that pride that I had

about her you knowhaving her brag on me,

just dissipated...Justdissipated and I think

that moment is wheni really became aware.

>> These are psychologicalforces

that impede one's feeling thelove that you have for yourself

and for others, again andit comes from your parents,

if they don't treat you withlove, if you're not made

to feel loved unconditionally--

"i love youjust because you exist,

not because what you look like

"or how well you doacademically, athletically,

just because you exist,"but if you haven't made to feel

that love of self youwill be inhibited in terms

of interacting with others.

[ Background noise ]

>> I used to have a recordstore in Detroit, Michigan

and my grandmother...Mygrandmother actually would hire

lighter-skinned blacksbecause she felt

like darker...And I hate toadmit this...But she felt

like darker-skinned blacks maysteal cd's and albums from her.

>> But you actuallyran the record store,

so was it your policy also tohire light-skinned people rather

than dark-skinned people?

>> Oh, absolutely, absolutely ididn't know what I was doing you

know it was ingrained in me, ilearned it from her so it wasn't

like it was my fault yeahabsolutely I did hire more

of the light-skinnedbrothers than the dark

because honestly the darker-skinned brothers

did come in and steal from us.

[ Background noise ]

>> You know dark-skinnedwomen I don't really

like dark-skinned women,they look funny beside me

so you know I'd rather notdate a dark-skinned woman.

>> You ratherlight-skinned girl?

>> Yeah, light-skinned prettygirl, long hair, long hair.

>> It's frightening that theyhave this kind of negative,

critical attitude towardsblack females who aren't

of light complexion orstraight...It's the essence

of the slave mentality.

Nobody's in their hometeaching them about this

and even athletes and moviestars who have the chance

to say things they're silentoften in terms of this issue

so it's not clear how theseyoung men's consciousness will

be raised, it's frighteningbut it's important

that black women don'tbecome victims of thinking

that if they don't look acertain way they are inferior

or less than.

See you can't depend on a blackman liberating you from that.

[ Background noiseand conversation ]

>> Well,if she's dark-skinned,

she gotta have a nice body.That's just my--

>> he may likelight-skinned women.

I may like dark-skinnedwomen.

>> Dark-skinnedwomen are beautiful,

honestly you know idon't know what kind

of composition cametogether to make that happen,

but I guess the amount ofmelanin in your skin you know

if you have a lot you look good,

if you have a littlebit you look

but I mean I lovedark-skinned women,

you know I can'tlie, I cannot lie.

I feel like you hug a dark-skinned woman it feels better,

like the way your skin feelsagainst them it feels better.

Light-skinned women you haveto give more of yourself

and be somebody else sometimes with light skin,

you know you got to likeperm your hair or something

or jheri-curl it to get itwith a light-skinned female.

>> I'm going to use a testfor example, give them a test

with a multiple choice there'snot really a wrong answer

but I prefer light-skinned women, always did.

Most of the women fromthe south where I'm

from are light-skinned, i'mfrom shreveport, Louisiana,

but with me like isay it's the person

because you could be beautifulwhatever with light skin

but then if your character isnot right then I think and look

at you different now justbecause of your character

and I assume you woulddo the same with me.

>> And I remember going toschool, like, in kindergarten,

and my aunt was kind of likeyou know helping babysit me,

said okay when yougo to school go ahead

and find you a girlfriendthat's light-skinned,

long hair and clean underwear.

That was the adviceto a 5-year-old megoing off to kindergarten,

and I thought it was funnyand I thought it was whatever.

Okay I could see the light skin,

I could understand...Icould see the long hair,

my whole thing was notthe light-skinned part,

but how am I supposed to knowif she's got clean underwear.

>> I feel like because youknow I was dark-skinned myself

and you when two dark-skinned,

very dark-skinned peopleget together it's kind

of a...In society it'salmost a taboo sort

of experience...Taboo.

You know two dark-skinned peoplecoming together well then the

child is going to be dark-skinned-- that's what the

assumption is-- so, you knowi don't know what it was,

I think it was just my rage

against the norm you know dark-skinned guys are supposed to be

with a light-skinnedgirl...I just never believed

in any of that.

>> I heard my uncle say ifhe caught me with my arms

around a white woman,i'm holding her for the police.

>> Ideal for me, man,is dark skin.

I'm a dark-skinned brother,my daddy is dark-skinned,

my mama is dark-skinned and iwant my kids to kind of look

like me so I want my kids to bedark-skinned and I want my woman

to be dark-skinned, matter offact my woman is dark-skinned.

Honestly to me a woman isa woman first and foremost

for sure but if I'm going to sitthere and be with them day in

and day out and allthat I kind of want

to have a little resemblanceto myself, skin complexion

and the whole whatnot, you know.

>> I went to Africa once, tosenegal, and they allowed me

to come in and host the firstmiss black U.S.A. pageant ever

held in Africa, it'slike three years ago

and I never been to Africa.

And I got there and I sawmyself, I saw me walking all

over the place except imean real black, blue-black,

double black.I ain't never seen black

so black it made ink look light.

It was black, kind of black,you know but fabulous,

I was blown away by thebeauty of this black skin.

So I'm sometimesconfused when I hear women

who have really dark skinwho tell their stories

about how their heartswere broken

when they were told they wereugly because they were black

because for me it's aboutwhether you accept it or not.

>> If had to choosebetween a dark-skinned girl

or a light-skinned girl I wouldchoose a light-skinned girl

because like a light-skinned girl is in between,

you know what I mean, likeif a girl is dark she's dark

and then you have a white girl,if a girl is white she's white,

but if you have a light-skinned girl that's in between,

I like one that's in between.

>> Some people maybesubconscious who just don't want

to mess with dark-skinnedwomen, maybe they feel

like when they see a dark-skinned woman they just

like...there's nothing toher almost like maybe it

like she must be from comptonor maybe she got attitude

or like certain stigmasthat already are pegged

with black women already,inside of their own mind,

that maybe they don't evensee when they're doing.

>> I've dated all kindof women, you know going

through that I see howcertain women carry themselves.

More, to me more dark colorwomen they do have a low self

esteem to a certain extent.

Now on light skinned womenbecause light-skinned women,they feel

they're more closest to whiteso they feel they are special.

>> Do they trust you?

>> Yeah, yeah, yeah.

>> Why not?

>> She wasn't a nice person,

I think I've met toomany dark-skinned girls

that aren't nice people.

>> Why do you think dark-skinned girls are not nice?

>> Like we you're a dark-skinned girl like you go

through things a light-skinned girl wouldn't so

and then those things are bad

like you trying tobe somebody bad.

You might let that angerout on the wrong person,

no matter who it is...Somebody just said it to you

because of your skin color.

>> A young black kid coming

up in America is lookingat maybe Tia and tamera,

the twins, that's super-lightor high yellow,

and he's like man that'sfrom him little coming up

seeing that whiteis clean, white is pure.

Then when he gets olderand of a man then he starts

to realize even whitemen start to realize

that dark ain't reallywhat is the dirt, the bad,

the dark night, the ally.

That dark in a lot ofcases is kind of good,

kind of sweet, kind of tender.

The darker the fruitgets the more ripe,

the more sweet it is,you know what I'm saying...

The blacker the berrythe sweeter the juice--

that's where the wholeterm comes from.

>> You are married to anafrican-American woman.

>> Yes, I'm married toan African-American woman.

I remember distinctlya conversation I had

with my father when I was inelementary school where I went

up to him one day, of coursei didn't understand everything

that has to do with racism orrace relations at that point

in my life but I did realizethat I was attracted to in more

than a social way womenof all ethnicities.

I remember distinctlygoing to my father

and saying, "dad would you mind

if I did marrya black woman one day?"

And his response to me was,"as long as she looks good,

I don't care what color she is."

>> If you ask me ifit's a conscious choice

to pick a darker-skinned woman

versus likea lighter-skinned woman,

for me not really itwasn't an effort to go

and find the deepest, darkestchocolate sister out there

and get the full on forreal deal you know straight

from the motherlandand I didn't think

that defined blackness to me.

You know you're not moreethnic if you're darker

that just happenedto be how joanie was.

But when you look at her,there was nothingabout that color

of her skin that definedher and that's not

for everybody's experience butfor her would define that way.

So that's what ithink was attracted

to me was that strength.

>> Brown skin, dark skinwhatever you want you want

to call it complexion withmore...I would be more attracted

to that because idon't know it's

like a natural color substance,

you know somethingof their genes.

>> It's purer.>> You know it's purer.

>> Organic.>> it's purified you know.

>> I'm a vegetarian.

>> Yeah and i'ma veggie, so...

>> Another reasonwhy I can't see myself

with a light-skinned woman isbecause I want dark babies,

I want my babies to looklike pharaohs you know.

Or like queens, they'renot going...They won't look

like that with light skin,just me...My opinion, you know.

I'm being real ignorantright now.

>> I think sometimes weare afraid to really talk

about the stuff thatwe really need to talk

about I think what wouldmake the relationship better

with black men and women ifthey would just take the time

to have honest communications

and I think sometimeswe just don't.

[ Music ]

>> Don't forget about when I getold and wrinkled, I ain't old

and wrinkled yetbut when I get old

and wrinkled don't throwme away in the corner now,

I got this skin that'sstill got it!

>> No way. You are toobig a part of my team.

>> Thank you.

>> You know what iasked god when I was

in like...I thinki was eleven grade,

I asked god...Because iconsidered myself back

in the day you know ididn't have no good feeling

about my looks and stufflike that you know,

I thought I would havenever, ever found a husband

that really appreciate mewithout abusing me, you know.

I thought I was too dark butit didn't matter you know

because back in the day you knowthe light-skinned girls had all

the junk, you knowthey had all the junk.

Like all the boys wasgoing to them you know

and I played basketball, Iran track, I was a majorette

but still they weren'tinterested in me.

I guess it wasn't my turn.

My thought in my mind ithought that nobody want me,

when I got a teenager you know,

I thought you know, well,i ain't going to tryto talk to this boy,

to let no boy talkto me, you know.

And I just got on the meanside, a boy say something

to me I'm ready to fight.

They walk by you andtouch your behind

and I have...And iwas just fighting,

they just really thought iwas a real mean girl, you know,

but I had all this built inside of me and then when I went

to the doctor he said whyyou got your graduation ring

on your wedding finger, I saidi ain't never getting married.

Then he said why is you sayingthat, I said I ain't never going

to get married and iwouldn't ask him but I wanted

to tell him who'dwant me, you know.

>> When I was younger iremember being in junior high

and I had a friend...I don'tknow if we both liked the boy

or he was just a friendbut his father told him,

I remember we were in thecar, I was in the back seat,

his father was like youshouldn't talk to the mud duck.

The mud duck and so in my mind ialways think like if I could be

like just one tad shade lighterthen I would probably get more

guys that would bemore interested.

>> I'll never forget, I wentto Cancun several years ago.

There was four of us, there wastwo of us that were dark and two

of us that were fair-skinned but when I got

over there I hadthe men all at my feet.

I got a proposal, I got gifts.I'm like, what is going on?

And they would tell me,"you have such beautiful skin!

Is that your hair?Did you dye?

Is that your natural color?"

Black folks look at melike, "she's just black!

"Why are they tripping so?"

It was really questionable Tome why is it that they think I'm

so beautiful and my ownpeople don't see anybeauty in me at all.

>> My experience with blackmen has been I'm exotic,

I'm beautiful,they're fascinated by me...

Behind closed doors.

But when it came to dating,coming to the front door,

taking me outin public, doesn't happen.

>> I definitely feel thatblack men treat me differently

because of my skin color

and that was something ibecame privy of in college.

I joined a sorority and i'dgo to a lot of social events

and I noticed for most of theblack guys in my age group

like late teens, early 20's,

I was invisible,but some of my friends

who, a lot of themwere light-skinned

or mixed, they would justmake a bee-line to them,

just you know, knock you down,so after a while I'm

like well I'm invisible tothe people here I don't exist

because I wasn't fair-skinned.

>> The darker you are it'smore of a sexual approach,

it's more of a relationshipwithout much meaning sort

of approach than itis, I could get married

to that woman andhave a few kids.

>> I'm very shapely so I geta lot of men who look at that

as being strong or someone theyjust want to be intimate with.

But I'm not willing to allowmyself to be toyed with in

that way becauseof the stereotype.

She's shapely, she's dark, okayit would be great to have sex

with her or something like that

or she's strong she couldhave my babies, she's strong

as opposed to let'sgo out on a date.

It's this weird correlation

with a darker man wantinga lighter-skinned woman

and a lighter-skinned manwanting a darker-skinned woman.

More and more I startto see this

as a pattern amongst blackrelationships, it's very rare

that you see twoblack people who are

of the same skin tone together.

>> I have a problem when blackmen say specifically they would

never date with...They willnever date a black woman,

I have a problem with anybody

that says they will neverdate one particular group

because that's justbeing closed-minded.

Especially hurtful when a blackman says that to me because

(a) either you probablycame from a black woman,

(b) I am a black woman,

(c) if you have a daughtershe will be a black woman,

so you really need toanalyze your statement

when you say I wouldnever date a black woman,

why wouldn't youdate a black woman?

A lot of times it'susually reflective

on that person's shortcomingsthan it is on shortcomings

of black women as a whole.

>> I have a relative whomarried a white man 25 years ago

and she used to wear herhair like mine, straightened

and everything and I noticed

that she startedwearing a natural,

she didn't wear the makeup,he liked her natural beauty,

which I see her like youneed to straighten your hair.

But he loved herthe way she was.

>> White men seem to revere theblack woman whereas a black man

seems to have I guess it's moreof a maternal reverence instead

of like a goddessreverence I would say.

>> My experience with white men,

I just have to just you knowput on a cute outfit,

do my hair and let'sjust go out, I don't have

to worry about whatit costs, I don't have

to worry about...I don'thave to worry about anything,

just show up, there's nota control issue it's just

like you know you're a princessfor the day, but in my heart

of hearts I want to marrya black man and I want

to stay married to a black man.

I know that there areblack men out there

that can offer thatvery same thing.

But I just thinkthey're like in prison

because of their ownpersonal struggles.

You know, I have girlfriendswho have dumped their men

because they have alwayshad this sort of insecurity

about him cheatingon her or leaving her

for you knowa lighter-skinned woman.

I'm so over that, like trulythe day when that the shades

of color don't matter...Whew.That'll be the day.

[ Background noise ]

>> What has happened over time

across generationsis an internalization

of the degradation of what itmeans to be black in the world.

This is not justa U.S. phenomenon.

Go Ghana today, go to senegaltoday, go to the Gambia today,

go to South Africa today and youwill see billboards promoting

skin bleaching cream.

Even in the face of knowingthat it causes cancer.

Our sisters are trying tolighten themselves in response

to an internalizedracism that is global.

[ Background noise ]

>> Some other the places,people must understand

that some other places where youare dark-skinned you are put

over here into the lesser class.

In your country...

>> My country.>> Where is your country?

>> Dominican Republic.

>> See I'm telling you manit's like that a lot of places.

>> ( Indistinct audio )

>> Right.

>> I'm Korean-American.

I grew up in Hollywood,

but I did visit koreawhen I was in the 4th grade,

and that was the first timewhere I noticed

that I was actually different.

It's not like l.A.Where it's--

you kind of fit in being tanor a little darker.

In Korea, I guess, at the time,when I was in the 4th grade,

it was really popular to lookas white as a ghost,

so I really stood out.

There was a time we wentto the mall

with my mom and my brother.

And this random lady--

um, didn't know my mom--

just came up to herat the mall and asked her

if her husband was black.

I asked my momwhy she asked that,

and she said, "she's crazy.

People here just want to beas white as ghosts."

But I think it was at that timewhere I realized,

okay, well,there is a difference

from me and all the koreasliving in Korea

because I was so much darker.

Like, I really stood out.

>> In Thailand,i was in Thailand,

and the dark-skinned peoplein Thailand

are never on TV.

There's a lot of dark-skinned people there,

but you'll never see themon TV,

and you'll walk into a store--

'cause I remember goinginto the store tryingto find lotion--

and you cannot finda single bottle of lotion

that does not havelightening cream in it,

or, like, facial moisturizer

that doesn't havelightening cream,

because everyone'strying to become lighter.

>> I actually have peoplein my family

that bleach their skin,and, tell you the truth,

when you stop,it does not look good.

It does not look good.

>> One of the most popularproducts in the third world

is skin-whitening cream,

which gives us a little bitof an idea

of how people's perceptionsof themselves--

I mean, we're talkinghere about regions of the world

where the overwhelmingmajority are not white.

But here we see a hugekind of market

for skin-lightening cream.

So I think that gives usan indication

of where people's thinkingis around this kind of issue.

>> You can skin your face,

but then yourneck and your arms isa different complexion.

You want to be two-toned now?I'm confused.

>> That could be a stylethey're setting. Hey!

>> When you skin bleach,just skin-bleach everything.

Or just stay who you are.

>> You are who you are.>> It's easier, yeah.

>> Uh, this isthe salicylic acid peel.

It's a higher ph peelthan, let's say, our glycolic,

and it's self-neutralizing.

>> I have been askedas a dermatologist,

I would say at leastonce or twice a year,

someone calls and asksfor the medicine that

they believe brightenedmichael Jackson,

and I know what that medicinemost likely is,

and in his caseit may have been

used appropriately if heindeed have vitiligo,

but that really isthe only appropriate use

for a medicinethat irreversibly

brightens the skin.

>> Oh, I'm definitely notbleaching my skin.

Absolutely not.What it is is that...

I'm looking at trying to lightenthe darkened area

under my eyes, but absolutelynot bleaching my skin.

I-i love my color.I love my complexion.

>> I think there's two differenttypes of people that use it.

There are those that wantto lighten their blemish,

which is somethingthat I would do.

It's like when you geta pimple

or if you get sun damage--

just, like, little spotsto even out your skin tone.

And then there are thosethat put it on religiously

or take pills, even,

to make themselves lighter,

have a lighter complexion.

I think they're insecureabout who they are,

and they just...

They see it as whitebeing pretty.

>> What we see in a contemporarycultural framework

is the exportationof American imagesinto these countries,

and so all of the thingsthat we talk about

in relation tothe black-white binary

with African americansin this country

we see playing outin other countries as well.

The most popular moviesin these countries arehollywood films.

The most popular imagesare images coming outof the west.

The depictions ofafrican americansthat exist here

also exist there,so people who may noteven have a great deal

of interchange with,you know,

African communitiesand so on

see them throughthe western lens

that comesout of this country.

>> In the particular areawhere I'm from, east Africa,

the notion of if a womanis treated differently

for her skin tone,dark or light...

It depends.

It's traditionally--

Ethiopia is a feudal society.

It starts with kingsand queens.

It's one of the only uncolonizedplaces in Africa,

so their history doesn't startwith a paradigm of white first.

So there are regionswhere chocolate is

the most highest standardof beauty.

Then there is the feudal systemwhere you have kings and queens.

The woman's not gonna be dark,

'cause a lot of timesthe dark thing

is like someone who'smaybe an agriculturalistperson or something--

a little bit in the suntoo much, or--

you wouldn't-- for the royaltytype of thing,

quote-unquote,for lack of a better word--

you wouldn't be dark,you'd be lighter.

[Indistinct voices]

>> It's funny becausei was raised, um,

with my grandmotheralways telling us

to make sure we, um,marry light,

to progress the race.

And even till today,

um, you know,

I have an aunt that tellsmy cousin not to sit in the sun

'cause she'll get too dark.

>> Growing up in Panama,

I did experience the difference

between dark skin and lightskin.

And, uh, being in a family

where there's every shade,

thankfully, the--the messages were positive

in my family.

But I grew up very awareof the variety of...

Ideas about dark skin

not being favorable.

Quotes like, "you needto improve the race.

"Don't marry black,

and if you do,marry light-skinned."

That kind of foolishness.

>> If a young childis constantly taught

that Europe is the pinnacleof civilization,

that all great ideascame out of england,

came out of France,came out of Germany,

and they're a young, say,egyptian child

in the nile delta,

they're not going to look

within their own community

and within themselvesto see greatness.

They're going to lookoutside of their community

and aspire to that.

And I think this plays outin the way

in which we perceive ourselves physically as well.

>> I think--this is my opinion.

The reason why womenin Africa try to bleachtheir skin,

'cause they...

It's what they'veportrayed on TV.

Over there, most ofthe stuff that they watch

is not really whatyou would call African TV.

It's pretty much western--

western cultureand all of that stuff

that is televised over there.

So most of the womenwants to have--

'cause what they seeon TV over there

are lighter-skinned women

with nice hairand all of that stuff,

so some of themwant to be like that,

so that's why some of thembleach their skin,

'cause they thinkthe lighter their skin is,

the chances they haveto actually one day be on TV

or get noticed by people.

So they think bleaching skinor lighter skin

is much, much betterthan dark skin.

>> You know, it's reallyinteresting now

how for so longwe as black women

would go out of our way

to try to emulate the beautyideals of white women--

you know,straightening our hair

and, for some,even bleaching their skin.

But now it's reallyinteresting to me

how more and more, uh,women of other cultures,

especially white women,are growing to embracethe things

that for so longhave been unique to us.

>> Hi, Cindy!

>> Hi!

>> All right, so, we aregoing to start

with you turning around.

I'm gonna do your back first.

>> Okay.

>> That way you can getcomfortable in the tent

and with the whole procedure.

By the time I have youspin around,

you will have been in therea couple of minutes,

so you'll feelnice and comfortable.

There is just somethingabout being tan

and having tan skinthat makes muscle definition

look... better, and...

It makes me feel healthier,it makes me feel better.

It definitely, um...

Any imperfectionsthat I might feel that I have

are covered by-- by a tan.

Um...

It just makes me feel good.

It makes mefeel more confident,

and, um, just... it's pretty.It's pretty.

>> I really believe thateverybody wants to be blackexcept black folks.

I used to do comedyon venice beach.

I did it out therefor nine years,

and when I would do comedy,i would do "the racism piece."

And I would standa white person next to me,

and I would say, "well,look at white people.

"They call us colored,

"but-- but-- but we alwaysour color,

"whatever color we are,if we come out, we brown,

"we always brown,we end up brown.

"White people, whenthey're born, they're pink,

"when they're mad,they're red,

"when they're cold,they're blue,

"when they die,they're gray.

"Them the colored people!

"But we, our people,

"we have all thesebeautiful shades of brown--

"just chocolate and blackand beige,

"and every coloris lovely and beautiful,

so our beauty is reallyour state of mind."

[Buzzing sound]

>> There are thesesorts of senses

that these imagesare carefully chosen

to communicatecertain ideas.

>> Where I have a problemwith the media

is when they try to have itboth ways--

that is to say, "we don'thave any real impact

"on the dialogue becausewe're just giving people

what they want."

Yet they pay people hundredsof thousands of dollars

to figure outhow to make people

millions upon millionsof dollars.

And it's not voodoo. It's not,you know, some weird--

you know, it's not hoodoo,you know?

If you want, you know,it's vodun!

There is a method,

and there is a literacy,

a cultural literacy,

that allows peopleto make a message

that is going to have the oddsof being more successful

than another.

>> I was once on CNN,

debating the whole controversy

about Beyoncé's l'oreal ad,

and whether or notthey had lightened her skin.

When a picture of herin motion

was placed against a pictureof her in print,

everybody said,"oh, there's no way

that they didn'tlighten her skin."

And I remember sayingsomething like,

"i hope this doesn'trevoke my 'black card,'

"but, you know, I justdon't want to believe

that that is still happeningthis day and age."

>> Well, I think the beautyindustry,

in setting very specific,very high standards

for a person is supposedto look

in order to be beautiful

is feeding off of the insecurity that people have.

I believe that the moreself-respect

and self-esteem a person has,

the more they won't buyinto the sales pitch

that "you're not okaythe way you are."

[Children playing]

>> My favorite africanproverb is,

"until the lionhas a historian,

the hunter will alwaysbe a hero."

Unless we are ableto understand

and articulate the issuefrom multiple points of view,

including from the point of view

of those who are the recipientsor on the receiving end

of this oppressive,degrading image

that has been created overgenerations for black people,

we're only going to continueto perpetuate the stereotypes.

>> Being that I've been ontons of video shoots,

I look at the magazinesand I see all the rap videos

and all the mediathat surrounds rap,

I've always found ita bit hypocritical

that a lot of the rappersmake this big deal

about having a lot ofblack pride,

but then they'll flip aroundand have a predominance

of light-skinned womenor women who are not blackin their videos,

especially as the primarylove interest.

I think it's very hypocriticalbecause what's the message

you're sending to the blackgirls in particular is that,

"oh, we aspire to bewith non-black women"?

>> I can remember beinga young girl, wantingto be a model.

I didn't seedark-skinned girlson covers of magazines.

When I was in high school,my nickname was grace Jones.

And people used to say thatto me as an insult

because she was dark-skinned,

but I didn't get it at firstbecause I love grace Jones.

I thought she was the mostbeautiful--

oh! just the colorof her skin!

And I just lovedeverything about her.

And eventually I was ableto turn that around,

but it wasn't easy.It doesn't happen overnight.

>> The other part of itis that,

you know, there's this issuecalled structural racism.

We've been so foc-- wheneveryou hear the word "racism,"

people immediately thinkof individual racism.

But the bigger elephantin the room now

is the structural racism--

the kinds of policies andpractices that we have in place

that perpetuate colorism,

whether that's the thingsthat you see in the media,

in advertising,

and in the magazine

and who gets selectedto be the models,

and in the movieswho plays the lead character

and who plays the servant role

and who playsthe jezebel role

and on and on and on.

You know, societyis perpetuating it.

Society has a responsibilityto do something about it,

to self-correct.

>> I, Barack Hussein Obama...

>> Will to the bestof my ability...

>> And will to the bestof my ability...

>> Preserve, protectand defend

the constitutionof the United States.

>> Preserve, protectand defend

the constitutionof the United States.

>> So help you god?>> So help me god.

>> Congratulations,mr. president.

All the best wishes to you.

>> I'm so proud of the example

that presidentbarack Obama has set.

I know that, uh, as women,we were all holding our breaths

when he first steppedonto the political scene.

Like, "hmm, he's kind of cute.And he's smart.

Harvard degree. Lawyer.Hm! Okay, Barack!"

But then we were like,"watch.

He got one of thoselite-brites."

Or, you know, "watch his wifebe light-skinned, long hair."

And when we saw Michelle,we were like,

"you go! Go, Michelle!Go, Barack!"

You know, there was a certainrelief that I think we all felt.

>> I am so happy

that there's-- I don't wantto say a "real sister,"

but there is a black womanwho is dark-skinned, you know,

in the white house.I love that.

And she's not cleaning,she's not cooking,

she's the first lady.

And I love that,and I feel like

because of her presence

and her position

that people are moreaccepting of us now.

>> I love Mrs. obamain office so much

because [it's] the first timeyou see black people

on a regular basis--a family-- on television.

Usually when you seeblack people on TV,we're on our way to jail

or we're rappingor we're in sports.

You don't get to see us ina positive light continuously.

Now the world is forcedto look at our wholeblack family all the time,

and they're finding outthat we're just regular folk.

We ordinary. We havethe same pangs

and sorrows and joysas everybody else.

But because of thesetype of teachings,

black is considereda negative thing,

a dark thing, a wrong thing.

>> I thinkthe first responsibility

is to acknowledgethat there is powerin those images,

that there is powerin advertising,

magazine covers,that there is power in that

and that there is thoughtto that,

that there are peoplewho've dedicated their lives

to understanding how people

will have an emotional,intellectual response

to an image, to a sound,to a voice.

That is whatthey have studied,

and that is what they'regetting paid

six-figure salaries to do,if not seven figures.

And that to then pretend

that all that knowledge means nothing,

that they are servantsof the people

and only reflecting backwhat people want

is utterly ridiculous.

>> I livea very valuable life,

and I feel really,really, really good

that I've forgiven my parents,

that I'm not still wavingmy finger, saying,

"it's all your fault."

That I've put that to rest,that my life right now

is my responsibility.

>> If you want to changea person,

the first thing you must do

is to change theirawareness of themselves.

So it startswith consciousness.

We have to understandour history in real terms--

not a watered-down roots version,

but a sankofa version

of our historyand our holocaust,

and the pain and the traumaand the damage that that caused.

In addition to that,we have to also understand

our resiliency as a people,

the values that havehelped us surviveagainst the odds,

the principles of community

that have helped usto maintain our humanity

in the faceof massive inhumanity.

>> My aunt Dorothy,living down south,

she, as a child,when I was a child,

she recognized that I wasstruggling with my skin tone,

and she came up to meand she was like,

you know, "the darker the Berry,the sweeter the juice.

You embrace your skin tone.You are beautiful."

So when she told methat my blackness was beautiful,

that changed completelymy perception of myself.

>> One of the thingsthat I do with her brothers

is I make sure that theyencourage her

and treat her like a Princess in the house,

to let her-- you know,"let your sister know,

"you know, she's beautiful,and she's smart,"

and, you know, and--and I know that, as a parent,

I'm going to have to give herthe things that she needs,

and her brothers willhave to give her

that male assurance

so that she doesn't gooutside the home

looking for lovein all the wrong places.

>> If it wasn't for my motherand my father

being very strong people

and... I always rememberwhat they told me.

They would say,uh, you know...

"You're not betterthan anybody else,

but at the same time,nobody's better than you are."

It made me a little bitstronger.

I've been through a lot ofpeople trying to ridicule me,

laughing at mebecause I'm darker,

but I don't allow anybodyto define who I am.

>> If the mothers are teaching their daughters

to love who they areand where they came from,

and that they're beautifulbeing as black as they are,

whether they're as darkas purple,

or whatever color it is.

'Cause there's differentshades of darkness,

and all of 'emcan be beautiful.

>> When you think ofthe overall physical body,

every single cell has its ownunique purpose and function.

And so if in this example

a dark-skinned womanwere the eyes

and a light-skinned womanwas the eardrum,

why would the eyes workso hard to be the eardrum,

and would it make sensefor the eardrum

to try to become the eyes?

It's just important to bewho you are,

and when you beginto acknowledge that

and begin to acknowledge that the experiences you've had

have brought you toa particular point in your life

where you have so much to giveand so much to contribute,

you have so much to learn,

then you can startreally accepting

and being certainand just own who you are,

and I think it's also importantfor each of these little ones,

for these children that arecoming into the world

to understand thatand to know that

and to be taught thatfrom birth.

>> When I think thati actually had those thoughts,

that I actually utteredthose words,

it's, you know, it's shameful.

But somehow, you know,i got over that,

and, uh...

And she's beautiful.She's gorgeous.

And, uh...

She's a little chocolate baby,and I love her to death.

>> This can be healed.

There is hope.

In fact, it's importantthat each of us

heal the woundsthat we carry

so that the musicinside of us

can be heard by usand by everyone else.

Imagine that you havethis newborn,

beautiful baby girlin your arms,

and you're holding her,you're looking at her.

You're full of love.You're cherishing her.

How do you hold on to that

and help her carry thatthroughout her life?

But here's the thing--

that little girl thatyou're holding, that's you.

You ultimately are the keeperof your own soul.

You are the keeper ofthe spirit that is you,

and then so if you don'ttreat you right--

if you don't loveand Cherish you--

how do we expectanyone else to do the same?

>> Loving yourselfis not racism.

Loving yourselfis race pride.

In-- in-- in shows,i try to point out

that I can love mewithout hating you.

Because a lot of timesmy show

have a lot of white folksin there.

I don't have to hatewhite people to love me.

My programdon't work like that.

I love mebecause it's intrinsic

and because we are taughtnot from books

but by the spiritthat love begins at home.

You've got to love who you are,

the essence of who you are.

They tell you when you'reon an airplane,

if you've got a childwith you and there's trouble

and the oxygen bags come down,

you put the oxygenon you first.

You ever there wrasslin'with the kid,

you gon' both pass out and die.You love yourself first,

and I always consider lovelike, if you drop a drop

into water-- the ripplesthat go out

is everybody else,and you're that drop.

So the love starts with youand goes outward,

so you have to lovewhat you are,

the essence of what you are.

>> You have to lookbeyond the color.

You have to look into"what do we want to accomplish?

"What are our dreamsand aspirations?

"What are our childrengoing to become?

What kind of worldare we going to have?"

That should determinehow we proceed

with the perpetuationof our culture.

>> I would say...(Chuckles)...

What India.Arie said--

"you're not your hair.

"You're not your skin.

You are the soulthat lives within."

She said that so eloquently,

and I believe it immensely.

There is so much powerand so much magic in you.

There is so much destiny.

There's so much charmand charisma.

There's so muchsexiness in you,

you just have to be thatand live that

and know that and...

And see it and trust it.

>> When people call mebeautiful now,

I take it as a compliment.

I truly understandwhat they're looking at.

It's like whenthe minister said,

"black is not just a color,

but an essence of who you areand who you will become."

So, I take my color for,like, gold, more than gold.

I wouldn't change itfor anything in the world now,

and I feel so happy thatgod made me my way.

>> What therapy taught mewas to be self-aware,

and to take responsibility

for what I know.

This is my load,my baggage,

and I am still unloading it,

but it's much lighter.

>> My mommy and daddysay I'm beautiful.

>> Woman:rise, dark girls.

>> Voices: dark girls, rise.Dark girls, rise.

>> Dark girls, rise.