#PrettyPeriod
I’ve spent many years researching and writing about Black body politics, particularly as it relates to skin tone i.e. colorism and skin color politics. For the most part, when we discuss skin color politics, we focus primarily on the sociopolitical DISadvantages that come with being dark-skinned in a society that continues to privilege and prioritize White/Western standards of beauty. Take for example, Bill Duke’s documentary, ‘Dark Girls.’ Although it was a necessary documentary and indeed resonated with *some* my own experiences, something about what I saw in the documentary bothered me. Not because it wasn’t true, but because it was the ONLY truth I have long seen discussed.
As an academic, I could have simply written about it (which I did) or discussed it in my classrooms (which I do), but after doing this work for what feels like my entire life, I’m at a point where I would much rather create than to critique.
Enter #PrettyPeriod, a transmedia project created as a visual missive in reaction to the oh-so-popular, yet oh-so-offensive ‘compliment’ - “You’re pretty for a dark-skinned girl.” Our collective response is, “No, we’re pretty. PERIOD.”
Showcasing girls and women of brown-to-dark complexions in the truth of their beauty, #PrettyPeriod emerges as a visual tribute to brown skin, a visional testament to Black beauty, and a vision board for healing – both ours and yours.
Sit in it. Meditate on it. Get lost in it. Come to appreciate it. Love it.
