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Nqobile Tshili, Showbiz Correspondent
THE use of skin lightening creams among black women has been one of the topical issues raising questions over whether blacks are confident in their complexion.
Many a times, black women have been accused of trying to whiten their complexion using creams which increase their risk of contracting diseases.
In this regard, a United States Zimbabwe-born spoken word poet Ms Thulisile Mabhena (35) has released a poem titled, “The Morning Ritual of Self Love” to conscientise black women on the need to wear their black skin with pride. The five-minute poem which is in the form of a video is available on YouTube.
Ms Mabhena told Saturday Leisure that black women’s lack of self-acceptance prompted her to come up with this spoken word piece. She also said she came up with the artistic piece to show that black women across the globe face similar struggles.
“The obvious one (reason) being that African women tend to have a serious complex when it comes to self-acceptance. The other hidden one is that I joined forces with African-Americans to create the production to show that all black people share the same struggles.
“Also, I wanted to show what can be achieved when black people from different parts of the world come together,” Ms Mabhena said.
She said black women should celebrate their beauty in its diversity and use it as their source of power.
“The poem talks about how many women don’t know who they are and it’s time for us to recognise how powerful it is to have what we have as African women.”
Blacks, Ms Mabhena said, are falling for media propaganda which seeks to define acceptable beauty.
“The power that comes from our inner beauty surpasses anything else that anybody may set as a beauty standard. It is more powerful than any of the things that are put out there as a way of making us think of ourselves as women who don’t measure up to what the rest of the world regards as beauty.
“So many women talk about why they need to be fair-skinned. Their fair skin is not a way of helping their confidence, but it’s a way of making them feel like they’re not attractive if they don’t have their fair complexion.”
She said if black women fail to recognise the strength in their skin colour, their confidence will be subdued. Subdued confidence, she said, could also affect their financial independence as they will continue to seek artificial make-up to boost their self esteem.
Ms Mabhena said she teamed up with an African- American media institution in the production of the video as she realised they shared similar objectives.
“They know how much struggle we have in Africa as it’s the same struggle they have in their African- American community. I’m confident that they know how special it is to help African women and they understand why they’re actually needed in Africa.
“Our black communities all over the world need each other. We have so much power when we come together and we should always come together in order to succeed in this world,” she said. — @nqotshili
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Online Reporter