Make sure you all tune into OWN’s Spotlight Special presentation of D. Channsin Berry‘s riveting documentary Dark Girls 2. It airs TONIGHT at 10 p.m. EST following the season five premiere of the mega-church drama Greenleaf.
Dark Girls 2 is a much needed follow up to Berry’s 2011 documentary, Dark Girls, which examines the very taboo subject of colorism within the African American community. The film explores our internal feud of “light-skin vs dark-skin” as well as some very personal stories from Black women of all hues who have experienced prejudice at the hands of other Black people.
In this second installment, Berry looks at colorism from a historical perspective and how the hierarchy skin color played out during American slavery. It also takes a “deep dive” into the mental and physical impact it has had on generations of Black people and particularly Black women. Berry also looks at this issue through a global lens and how it has haunted Black women from around the world including London, Paris, several African countries and the Caribbean. Everything from the dangers of “skin bleaching” to the erroneous placement of “skin bleaching” products in television and print advertisements is discussed.
The all too familiar saying, “You’re pretty, for a dark skinned girl…” is also called out along with other societal prejudices that have become norms in Black culture like “passing for White” and the infamous “Brown Paper Bag Test,” practiced by some African American communities, churches, clubs and fraternal organizations.
But wait, there’s more! Berry’s Dark Girls 2 does have a silver lining. The film also reveals how popular social media networks like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have all serve as platforms where dark-skinned women (and men) are often celebrated and praised for their “melanin” and dark to brown pigment. Hashtags like #melaninpoppin and #melaninmagic are followed by millions of people worldwide and features images of beautiful brown, chocolate and mocha colored women (and men) in all their fabulous glory.
Check out the Dark Girls 2 trailer below and tune-in at 10 p.m. following Greenleaf:
