By Emmanuel Onwubiko
I write from a profound
background of experience as a child of a dark coloured mother and a husband of
a black and beautiful wife.
So this is about the
milestones made globally by black African girls/ladies in just one year alone
which should serve as a bedrock to urge all lovers of black Africa to push back
on the drive by some modern day girls in Africa to bleach their original colour
so as to be white.
Are you a man of
distinction if you are reading this piece? What colour tickles your fancy when
you admire a female?
For me, I am a
worshipper of the idol of black colour not necessarily because I was incubated
in the womb of a very black woman. But as a matter of intrinsic choice and for
the purpose of holding in high esteem, that colour that the divine Being
endowed myself with and my other like species of the human creatures.
Come on! Emmanuel! Why
all these poetic fantasies on the black coloured skin?
Well, from the deepest
consciousness of my being, I have decided to engage in this reflection
motivated by the irony of the emergence of black winners in virtually all the
most important beauty competitions for the female gender held this year ranging
from the most glamorous Miss Universe, Miss World and to cap it all the most
competitive of all Pageantries known as the Miss USA.
Mind you, United States
of America is the strongest nation in the world in terms of civilization and
military advancements.
Also, America is led by
Donald Trump who is regarded as a sympathizer of white supremacy.
To have a black
American lady take the lead in the most strategic beauty contest in a nation
like the United States of America led by Donald Trump who has the confusing
notoriety as someone who is a racist, is to say that this year is not to be
forgotten in a hurry but must be symbolically renamed as the year of black
girls.
Additionally, the
emergence of a black South African girl as the winner of Miss Universe should
send clear message to her compatriots to have a rethink and stop any further
xenophobic violence targeting fellow black Africans only because they left
their homes in other parts of Africa to settle in South Africa which as it
were, was aggressively developed by the white racist governments of the past
apartheid era. After all, it took black solidarity to get apartheid
dethroned.
We will return to that
angle of the black South African involvement in xenophobia.
First, let us look at
the historicity of all the beauty competitions that have all been won by black
girls so as to very clearly understand the wider ramifications of their
victories then we situate these phenomenal feats by black girls to the craze by
some Africans to bleach their black natural skin to look like white girls.
By the way, this piece
is not negating the essence of the colour white but is meant to tell black
girls to be just the same way that white girls are proud of their beautiful
skin colour which the divine creator gave them as their unique identity. I
understand that some black men also bleach their skin to become whites. Michael
Jackson did that. Many other men still do it. So it's not the bad habit of only
black girls.
Reading through the
report done by the British Broadcasting Corporation from the venue of the 2019
Miss Universe has clearly supported my assertions aforementioned.
The BBC reports that
the 68th Miss Universe pageant was held on December 8, 2019 at Tyler Perry
Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, the United States.
It recalled that
Catriona Gray of the Philippines crowned her successor Zozibini Tunzi of South
Africa by the end of the event.
This is South Africa's
third win after their recent victory in 2017. This edition also saw the
crowning of the first black woman winner since Leila Lopes was crowned in 2011.
BBC statistically
concluded that contestants from 90 countries and territories participated in
this year's competition.
The pageant was hosted
by Steve Harvey in his fifth consecutive year, with Olivia Culpo and Vanessa
Lachey as backstage correspondents, and with a performance by Ally Brooke.
The new Mouawad Power
of Unity crown made its debut. Swe Zin Htet of Myanmar became the first openly
lesbian contestant to compete for the Miss Universe title.
Her emergence and it's
symbolism wasn't lost to her even as he stated that: "I grew up in a world
where a woman who looks like me, with my kind of skin and my kind of hair, was
never considered to be beautiful.
"I think that it
is time that that stops today."
That's the message from
newly-crowned Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi, who is from South Africa.
More than 90 women from
across the world took part in the pageant which was held in Atlanta in the US
on Sunday.
Zozibini beat Puerto
Rico's Madison Anderson and Mexico's Sofia Aragon in the final three to take
the tiara.
Finalists in the
competition were asked a range of questions on topics such as climate change,
protest and social media.
In her final question,
26-year-old Zozibini was asked what we should be teaching young girls today.
Her answer was
leadership.
"It's something
that has been lacking in young girls and women for a very long time - not
because we don't want to, but because of what society has labeled women to
be," she said.
"I think we are
the most powerful beings on the world, and that we should be given every
opportunity.
"And that is what
we should be teaching these young girls - to take up space."
Zozibini has been
described as "a proud advocate for natural beauty"
Zozibini is the first
black woman to win the competition since Leila Lopes in 2011.
The Angolan former
winner congratulated her in a post on Instagram, writing: "Congrats girl
you did us very proud."
Relfecting on her win,
Zozibini wrote: "Tonight a door was opened and I could not be more
grateful to have been the one to have walked through it.
"May every little
girl who witnessed this moment forever believe in the power of her dreams and
may they see their faces reflected in mine.
"I proudly state
my name Zozibini Tunzi, Miss Universe 2019!"
The hashtag
#MissUniverse was trending on Twitter and she even got a shout-out from Oprah
Winfrey.
What indeed is the
history behind the yearly competition to crown the winner of Miss Universe?
From documented records
derived from the official websites of Miss Miss Universe, we are told that Miss
Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by the United
States-based Miss Universe Organization.
The contest is
reportedly the largest pageant in the world in terms of live TV coverage,
airing yearly in more than 190 countries worldwide to an audience of over 500
million people.
Along with Miss World,
Miss International, and Miss Earth, Miss Universe is one of the Big Four
international beauty pageants, or so it seems.
The Miss Universe
Organization and its brand, along with Miss USA and Miss Teen USA, are
currently owned by the WME/IMG talent agency.
What about the other
powerful contest in which another black professional career girl emerged as
winner known as Miss USA 2019?
It was reported that
the Miss USA 2019 was the 68th Miss USA pageant. It was held at the Grand
Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada on May 2, 2019. Nick Lachey and Vanessa Lachey
served as hosts, while Lu Sierra served as commentator, all for the second
consecutive time. Additionally, it featured performances from T-Pain and Nick
Lachey.
Sarah Rose Summers of
Nebraska crowned her successor Cheslie Kryst of North Carolina at the end of
the event. Kryst represented the United States at Miss Universe 2019 and placed
in the Top 10.
The 2019 competition
served as the second consecutive time that the pageant has been held
concurrently with the Miss Teen USA competition.
If you think beauty
contests is for the never-do-wells then think again. This is because Miss.
Cheslie Kryst is a full-time attorney who is licensed to practice law in two
states.
She earned both her law
degree and MBA from Wake Forest University and graduated cum laude with a
Bachelor's degree from the Honors College at the University of South Carolina.
This 28-year-old is a
former Division I athlete, having competed in the heptathlon, long jump and
triple jump on South Carolina's track and field team.
When Zozibini Tunzi of
South Africa was named Miss Universe on Sunday, her crowning signified a
milestone: the first year that four of the major beauty pageants had
simultaneously awarded the top prize to a black woman, so echoes an analyst
similarly happy at this turn of events for black girls in the World.
A modern historian
recalled that pageants have long been criticized for their antiquated beauty
standards and, in many cases, outright racism or gender stereotyping.
The historian also
stated that last year, the Miss America Organization announced it would scrap
both the swimsuit and evening gown portions of the competition. And while black
women have been winners in the past — notably Vanessa Williams, who in 1984 was
the first black woman to be named Miss America — they have never been as
successful as this year.
Supporters of the women
— Ms. Tunzi, Cheslie Kryst (this year’s Miss USA), Kaliegh Garris (Miss Teen
USA) and Nia Franklin(Miss America) — say the recognition sends a powerful
message that today’s beauty standards are evolving beyond Barbie-lite, or an
era when contestants were prized solely for smooth hair, light skin color and
thin lips.
Toni-Ann Singh who is
Miss Jamaica won the 2019 Miss World to crown it all for the black women of our
time.
BBC observed thus: “It
is the first time in history that black women hold the titles of Miss USA, Miss
Teen USA; Miss America, Miss Universe and Miss World. This comment by the
British officially owned broadcaster should tell the remaining black girls who
still go about bleaching their skin that now is the time for them to stop.
Imagine the futility in
the craze by some black girls to bleach their skin to be white; this is
certainly a case of inferiority complex which is a psychological and an emotional
disturbance that must be confronted.
The other day, the
social media celebrated a certain skin bleaching entrepreneur who was using
chemicals and hot water to help black girl automatically bleach their skin to
white.
The thought of skin
cancer and other medical conditions that can arise from such practice worried
me.
The regulatory agency
in charge of food, drugs known as NAFDAC was proactive in moving to close down
that semi-color changing laboratory in Lagos.
NAFDAC had reportedly
raided the facility of a skin bleaching professional - The attention of the
agency had been drawn to the facility after a video of a bleaching process went
viral - At the time the video surfaced, Nigerians were outraged by the length
to which ladies go to have a fair skin, so reports a local online newspaper.
The National Agency for
Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) reportedly raided the
facility of a skin bleaching professional just as it was gathered that the
facility belongs to the lady behind a viral bleaching video.
Media had reported that
a lady, who described herself as a bleaching expert, had taken to social media
to brag about her work after Nigerians condemned a viral bleaching video she
was responsible for.
On Wednesday, December
4, the bleaching professional's facility was raided by NAFDAC.
It was gathered that
the viral bleaching video had brought the attention of the agency to the lady.
In a video shared online, the officials of the agency were seen removing
products from the facility to carry out a quality test at their office.
Can NAFDAC brief
Nigeria about the update on this case. There is the need to reinforce our
collective rejection of bleaching because of the side effects.
Side effects and
precautions of skin bleaching as medically reviewed by Cynthia Cobb, on July
22, 2019 just as it was written by Adrienne Santos-Longhurst
(www.healthline.com).
This review has it that
Skin bleaching refers to the use of products to lighten dark areas of the skin
or achieve an overall lighter complexion. These products include bleaching
creams, soaps, and pills, as well as professional treatments like chemical
peels and laser therapy.
The medical review
aforementioned affirmed that there is no health benefit to skin bleaching.
Results aren’t guaranteed and there’s evidence that skin lightening can result
in serious side effects and complications.
From a medical
standpoint, there’s no need to lighten the skin. But if you’re considering skin
bleaching, it’s important to understand the risks.
Skin bleaching they emphasized
reduces the concentration or production of melanin in the skin. Melanin is a
pigment produced by cells called melanocytes. The amount of melanin in your
skin is mostly determined by genetics.
People with dark skin
have more melanin. Hormones, sunlight, and certain chemicals also affect
melanin production.
When you apply a skin
bleaching product to the skin, such as hydroquinone, it decreases the number of
melanocytes in your skin. This can result in lighter skin and a more even
appearance to the skin.
A number of countries
have banned the use of skin bleaching products because of the dangers
associated with them.
In 2006, the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) Trusted Source also issued a notice that
over-the-counter (OTC) skin bleaching products are not recognized as safe and effective.
The products were deemed not safe for human use based on a review of evidence.
Skin bleaching has been
associated with a number of adverse health effects.
Some skin bleaching
creams made outside of the United States have been linked to mercury toxicity.
Mercury has been banned as an ingredient in skin lightening products in the
United States, but products made in other countries still contain mercury.
In a 2014 study Trusted
Source of 549 skin lightening creams bought online and in stores, nearly 12
percent contained mercury. About half of these products came from U.S. stores.
AS we mark the year of
the black girls, may I suggest to all the First ladies of African countries to
lobby so their nations and the African Union can adopt a particular day in a
year to CELEBRATE THE DAY OF THE BLACK GIRL.
This is an idea whose
time has come.
*Emmanuel Onwubiko
heads HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) and blogs
@www.emmanuelonwubiko.com,
www.huriwa.blogspot.com,www.thenigerianinsidernews.com.
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