Nicole Ari Parker: “Don’t Let the Light-Skin Fool Ya”

Image courtesy of http://www.whudat.com

Last week actress Nicole Ari Parker appeared as a guest on the The Wendy Williams Show. When answering Wendy’s question on how she responds to women who try to attract husband actor Boris Kodjoe, Nicole stated that the women who dare challenge their bonds of matrimony have lessened since she played the role of Teri Joseph on HBO’s Soul Food. Furthermore, she went on to say that she would not hesitate in defending the sanctity of their union. “Don’t let the light skin fool ya,” was Nicole’s retort much to the satisfaction of many members of the audience (unfortunately).

I had hoped the NYU grad from Baltimore had more sense than that—reifying the perceived and illegitimate connections between skin tone and behavior. For hundreds of years lighter skin has been associated with the refined, civilized, good-natured man or woman. However, Ms. Parker reminds us that the paper bag test is not a relic confined to our past.

For more information on colorism, check out Shades of Brown: The Law of Skin Color by Trina Jones.

Black Coffee – No Sugar, No Cream?

I recently discovered Heavy D’s video No Matter What from his latest release Vibes. As a fan of the cd and the artist, I don’t feel Heavy D gets the credit and respect he deserves. He and The Boyz rocked the 90s for me.

But I must say that I was rather disappointed with the woman he selected for the video, especially considering the song’s lyrics and the Jamaican pride displayed throughout the video. I’ve been to Jamaica a couple of times, and most of the women don’t look like her (Suelyn Medeiros, a Brazilian model and actress).

Perhaps he’s just switching it up which he has a right to do. He did choose Nia Long for his debut video Long Distance Girlfriend.

Or pehaps he just selected a woman close to his own skin tone?

Whatever his reasoning, I found his choice disconcerting nonetheless. And I am not alone.

Check out the comments of Misshannah1983 on youtube.

“I’m just curious why couldn’t a highly melinine sista be in the video. Most of us from the tropics are. Now this is quit different from the 90’s. Remember Shabba, Patra, Mad Cobra, Buju Banton etc. Now we have Rihanna, Sean Paul. It seems that some people are going out of the way NOT to find us. Though I’m not taking anything from these particular artist that i’v mentioned nor Heavy D to which i’m a fan. However if we are to keep it real…then people…LETS KEEP IT REAL.”

Your thoughts?

New York Times Addresses Racial Divide in [Un/Under] Employment

Click here. Interesting read. Thanks to Nia for brining it to our attention!

PS We apologize for the sporadic posting, life intercedes.

Light-Skinned Black Women Fare Better at Marriage

Shocking!

Just kidding, of course.

I have expected this to be true for awhile, but now I’ve got the data to back  me up.

Research shows that light-skinned black women (below the age of 30) marry more frequently than their darker counterparts. In Shedding “Light” on Marriage: The Influence of Skin Shade on Marriage for Black Females, authors Darrick Hamilton, Arthur H. Goldsmith, and William Darity, Jr. “contend that the associated shortage of desirable men in the marriage market provides those black men who are sought after with the opportunity to attain a high status spouse, which has placed a premium on having lighter skin (i.e. intensified colorism in marriage markets for black females)” (30).

She Says, He Says #1 (The only thing that’s stopping you is yourself.)

“The only thing that’s stopping you is yourself.”

She Says:

I keep hearing that statement on a commercial advertising ITT-Technical Institute. It’s uttered by a black woman of Barbadian descent who recently completed an education program at the school and is now working as a project manager, her seemingly dream job. Her declaration is complete and utter bullshit. Now don’t get me wrong, I believe in hard work, education, and all of the other ingredients needed to prosper in the working world without losing one’s integrity. However, I do not subscribe to the pull yourself up by your bootstraps mentality. It takes more than hard work and education to ascend from the abysmal depths of professional mediocrity. STFU!

He Says:

There are several things that I dislike about the commercial as well. To me it strikes the same chord that goes beyond just the Horatio Alger myth, and continues to beat black folks about the brow even further with the myth of the hardworking immigrant, and the entrepreneurial spirit deficient African American. In the commercial the young Bajan woman, is maximizing her potential, working her way to the top; her boyfriend/fiance/significant other, who coincidentally we can assume to be African American says “she’s determined, she’s going to make it to the top and I just want to be there when that happens.” This commercial plays with so many tropes it boggles the mind. First, the notion of the passive, submissive black male in the face of the dominant black woman. Secondly, the more culturally relevant trope in the world of black diaspora and modern black migration–the diligent, hard-working black other immigrant versus, the economically torpid, stagnated ethnic African American. It is such a subtle form of ethnicism, one that goes uncritiqued, and unthinkingly ingested by the masses. “Of course immigrants work harder than native born blacks, that’s why they have more success” is more often than not the pervasive wisdom–ask Chris Matthews.