This is maybe why I have a hard time finding my little niche. I'm multicultural and Afrocentric,very integrated and spiritual. I do not believe that a person needs to separate themselves from the larger community of humankind in order to have a relationship with their smaller communities such as: the black community, a sisterhood of women, the healing and spiritual community, the academic community and the anti-assimilation natural community.
What is exactly is the anti-assimilation natural community (or more simply put the natural community as we call it)?
Many black women have been coerced into believing that they are not naturally beautiful. This notion is the result of very complex and old psychological brainwashing that took place during slavery and continued on after it's aftermath (and still continues today). A striking amount of black women have been putting harsh chemicals on their hair to straighten it's texture since they were children and some also bleach their skin to lighten their skin tone. Others also wear light colored contact lenses in order to look more Caucasian. Natural black women do not do any of these things and also encourage other women of color to challenge outdated beauty standards and to embrace their natural beauty.
This issue doesn't exist only in black women, it's actually very widepread among non-white women who feel that the closer to white that they can look- the prettier they will be. In India skin bleaching is as common as face washing and there is a lighting ingredient in almost all skin products. Dark skin is seen as lower in the social hierarchy and this is reflected in the cast systems. If you enjoy Indian Bollywood movies, as I do, you may have also noticed that none of the leading ladies are dark skinned although many Indian women are brown skinned and not as light as the most famous Bollywood stars.
In China and Hong Kong, the women also shade themselves from the sun to avoid skin darkening and even more disturbingly go to great lenghts to widen their eyes. Eyelid surgery, which created the look of a rounder less Asian looking eye is HUGE and so is the sale and promotion of contact lenses with make the eyes look bigger and other invasive procedures to achieve a Western look.
As women, we all can obsess about our looks! I think that it's crucial to question where our beauty standards came from though- and why we are perpetuating them still today.
In the case of many black people, there is still a deep and secret self hate that stemmed from slavery and being treated as inferior ever since. It is a form of mental slavery which goes very deep and is hard to remedy. Today there is a new movement of natural black women who are attempting to let other women of color know that they do not have to assimilate their appearance to be beautiful. I hope that it catches because skin bleaching has grown even more popular as of late, instead of dying down.
View: The Montreal AFRO Natural Community (and some personal friends)
http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/black-women-encouraged-to-grow-an-afro-1.1142505
View: Selling the Skin Tone: The Skin Bleaching Phenomenon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNwIZ_xHjm0
View: Shadeism Part1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6oaEHsdhOs
The amazing Angela Davis, humanitarian, author, professor, renowned speaker, Civil Rights Activist, feminist, former political prisoner ...wearing a huge Afro in the 70's: Sadly Davis had been unjustly incarcerated in this image hence the long face. (This image is from the Documentary: Black Power Mix tape).
Here I am with ANGELA DAVIS now age 69 (still wearing her natural hair but it's less giant...lol)....This photo was taken after an amazing lecture given last winter on everything from critical thinking, the government, sexism, racism, the media, food politics and homophobia...a dream was realized for me that day!
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