Lupita Nyong’o, Oscar’s 2014 Best Supporting Actress is
a role-model extraordinaire. She is beautiful, exciting to watch and represents
a woman who is confident in her skin. I recently described her as ‘beauty from
head to toe.”
For many of us, Lupita
appeared from nowhere to master her first major movie role as Patsy in Oscar’s Best Picture of the Year, 12
Years a Slave. So compelling was her performance, I left the movie
theater thinking more about Patsy’s survival then Solomon being freed. Little did I realize the young woman who
played a sexually and physically abused slave, would months later rise to
become one of the most significant people of the award season?
On a recent Hot 97 radio
interview with Angie Martinez, supermodel, Naomi
Campbell described Lupita as “The lady of the moment who is elegant and
stunning, yet simple and humble.” Amazingly, comedian and host of Fashion
Police, Joan Rivers was in awe and found
it difficult to say anything negative about Lupita. How did she emerge as the
break-out person of the year and quickly rise to the A-list in Hollywood? Most
of the glamour portion of her rise, we can attribute to heavy media coverage,
but it is Lupita who has turned her quick fame into a message of hope for many
women of all ages, in particular young Black girls and women.
What makes Lupita stand
out and why is she significant? What can we learn from this young woman who has
inspired many by openly discussing her past pain?
In her well-documented
acceptance speech at the Black Women in
Hollywood awards luncheon, Lupita revealed publicly how she endured “teasing
and taunting about my night-shaded skin” while growing up. As a teenager, her
emotional pain grew so severe; she tried to make a deal with God to lighten her
skin. Nothing she offered changed her skin color. God had a plan for her. He
needed her to stay beautiful just as she was for a time such as now.
Women of color in all
walks of life from celebrities to villages in Africa are sadly using extreme
and often dangerous products to whitening their skin, Lupita’s comments are so
profound and hopefully a welcomed alternative for many women who believe that
somehow their lives will be better and they would look pretty if only they had
lighter skin. As co-directors, Bill Dukes and D. Channsin Berry pointed out
about their documentary, Dark Girls, the conversation is now
open. We should continue the dialog and address the pain caused by the dark
skin/light skin color issues and keep the conversation alive in order to raise
awareness of the biases that govern the standard of beauty in our world.
As Lupita Nyong’o so
elegantly pointed out in her Oscar acceptance speech, “It doesn’t escape me for one moment that so much joy in my
life is due to so much pain in someone else’s.” I translated
that to mean, “don’t get it twisted, we still have a lot of work to do and a
long way to go.” The door is open for all to walk through. Your skin color does not validate you!
By Sheila L. Agnew author, inspirational speaker, life coach and blogger. http://www.sheilaagnew.com
Sheila, I enjoy your blog and I always find myself waiting and looking for each post to be even more inspiring than the last. I’m sure right now God is preparing you to take us where we have never been to prepare us for more blessings.
ReplyDeleteThank you Earlean. You have always been a supporter and I am blessed by your friendship.
DeleteYour words will help to inspire women of a darker hue to lift their heads in pride. I salute you for "singing in the choir."
ReplyDeleteThank you so much James. I pray women will be inspired to go within for their true beauty
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