That most Black people around the world lack a sophisticated race consciousness
In a speech at the Essence Black Women In Hollywood luncheon last month, Lupita revealed that as a teenager she also struggled with accepting her dark-skinned complexion.
“I remember a time when I too felt un-beautiful. I put on the TV and only saw pale skin, I got teased and taunted about my night-shaded skin. And my one prayer to God, the miracle worker, was that I would wake up lighter-skinned.”
Despite sharing that story, Lupita said in a documentary that she did not realize she was Black until entering the United States at a later age.
“Having come to the United States was the first time that I really had to consider myself as being Black and to learn what my race meant. Because race is such an important part of understanding American society.”
Unfortunately, Lupita did not understand that she learned to devalue her dark skin while in Kenya and Mexico (where she returned at 16 to learn Spanish) before ever stepping foot on American soil because white supremacist ideologies, spread via slavery, colonialism and all forms of media, negatively impacted Black people worldwide including in her native Kenya.
This lack of racial consciousness prevents Black people from understanding that race is a major factor everywhere in the world, not just in America.
