Brown Skin + Kinky Hair
Brown Skin+Kinky Hair Video is a short montoage created to showcase the disdained beauty of Black women with brown skin and kinky hair. I was mainly inspired by my personal journey and the challenges of accepting my appearance. Though I knew deep down I was beautifully crafted by God through my ancestors, mainstream media and mainstream views did not align with those inner beliefs.
There was a point in my life, mainly in my younger years through early teenage years, where degrading remarks, jokes, and situations were thrown around without regard towards women not meeting “ideal beauty standards”. Hearing rash options on topics like being light-skinned vs. dark-skinned and having good hair vs. bad hair began to influence me to question my very own idea of beauty, since I fell into the brown skin and kinky hair category. Even though I didn’t let these opinions overtake my mind, as an adult, I can see how allowing those beliefs set in as much as they have truly affected me.
Luckily I came across two impactful novels, “The Skin I’m In” by Sharon G. Flake and “Don’t Play in the Sun” by Marita Golden who inspired my journey to further self-acceptance. As a result, I was inspired to make a contribution to what I want to see more of in the world about women who carry similar physical characteristics. I wanted to create a work that I would have loved to see as a child and young in the media.
In selection of this cast, it was important for me select women I mostly knew and some I didn’t know in my local community that I have been inspired by in some way. I believe these women take pride in showcasing their authentic selves and I wanted them to be a part.
It was also important and an honor for me to include my mother in this piece based off her personal journey of having brown skin and kinky hair. Hearing the affects of people calling her names or being exposed to negative comments due to her having smooth dark beautiful skin. Growing up, I couldn’t fathom how someone would even think my mother was anything other than beautiful, but she explained that some people just have a different perspective.
It’s now 2021 and I am thrilled to continue this work to uproot the weeds from tainted seeds that were planted with the intention for me to feel less of who I am based on my appearance. I am pleased with the progress media has made to include more authentic beauty, showcasing people from a wider rage of sizes, colors, beliefs, backgrounds, and more. We still have a long way to go. Education, opening the mind, and taking the time to love on ourselves creates a space for a more informed and inclusive world.
“This is not a cry out to receive a “you are beautiful” comment, but am ode to the women who struggle with self acceptance in hopes they realize that they themselves are beautiful inside and out.”
