Young, motivational blogger Karyn Washington addresses the sensitive social issue of what it feels like to be dark skinned in today’s society with her empowerment site ForBrownGirls.com. Through inspirational photos showcasing beautiful brown skinned women and open dialogue about the stereotypes of cocoa colored sistas, she encourages her peers and elders to embrace their skin tones and express their feelings, experiences, thoughts and inner struggles with being darker skinned girls. After covering this topic several times, one with a TDO reader survey and the other on TD Radio with actress Gabrielle Union, we were honored to talk with the college student about the emotional issue her mission. Check out the interview… ➫

TEEN DIARIES: What inspired you to launch ForBrownGirls.com ?
KW: The positive feedback I received from those who viewed my blog forbrowngirls.tumblr.com prompted me to create a site to reach out to girls and women outside of the realm of Tumblr. Hearing girls’ stories and how my site was an inspiration to them made me feel like I was making a difference. My blog is an aggregate of pictures celebrating the beauty of dark skin, poetry, advice, stories, makeup tips, and links to articles. I include my thoughts on certain topics and invite others to share as well. I’ve also conducted interviews with individuals to help better understand the way shadeism affects others. The purpose of my website and blog, soon to be integrated, is to find ways to overcome insecurities by discussing experiences and sharing with one another. Upon leaving my site/blog, my ultimate goal is for one to feel empowered, inspired, confident and if they did not love their skin before, go away with a newfound appreciation for its beauty.

TEEN DIARIES: Tell us about yourself. Are you in college? What is you major? How do you plan to use your degree after graduation?
KW: Yes I am a junior majoring in Public Relations at Morgan State University. Upon graduating I would like to be a Public Relations Consultant, Event Coordinator, Marketing Assistant or Television Writer/Producer. I love writing, expressing my creativity and interacting with people so any career where I can do all three would be amazing! Since starting ForBrownGirls, I have recently been extremely interested in becoming an entrepreneur. I would love to make a difference in the lives of others while being my own boss and continuing to do the things I love.

TEEN DIARIES: Have you been personally affected by shadeism? If so, how, from whom and at what age?
KW: Growing up I have had a few slights regarding my complexion directed my way but I never internalized them as I was brought up in a loving, uplifting environment. For my sisters and I, our complexion was never a deep issue. I first became personally affected by shadeism or such feelings of inadequacy in two of my high school relationships. In one, I was young, thought I was in love and told that the feelings were mutual only for him to tell me that I was “not his type” & that he preferred lighter skinned girls with long hair. That first experience opened my heart up for another pain to settle in; the relationship where I fist realized that white standards of beauty existed. Where this person’s celebrity crushes were Hilary Duff & Alicia Keys… I felt the total opposite like I didn’t compare. In my mind even though he had chosen me, I couldn’t help but feel that he had a preference. From then on I became fully aware of my dark skin. These feelings of inadequacy made me question my beauty and feel the need to compensate for what I thought that I lacked.

TEEN DIARIES: Have you found your issues with color discrimination within the Black race to lessen as you and your peers get older?
KW: I don’t think it lessens or gets better. So far, from my observations I’ve found that it depends on the person. Not all people discriminate based on one’s skin complexion, but I feel that it will continue to be present throughout all walks of life if these deep seeded issues are not properly addressed. As long as the “white standard of beauty “is glorified in the media, color discrimination will continue to be a learned mindset.

TEEN DIARIES: What have you found to be some of the biggest misconceptions about dark-skinned girls?
KW: In my opinion, the biggest misconceptions of darker skinned girls are that we have an attitude, shouldn’t wear bright lipstick colors and that we are generally less attractive than any other shade. The assumption that all dark skinned girls have an attitude can be compared to the generalization that all light skinned girls are stuck up, which of course isn’t true. Also dark skinned girls can wear any lipstick color they want so long as the shade is complementary to their skin tone! Pinks, Reds, Purples and Oranges look absolutely beautiful on brown skin. As for people thinking that we are unattractive, that’s completely ridiculous but something we have to deal with and unfortunately the reason some girls feel like they have to try twice as hard when putting themselves together or making sure they excel in whatever they do to compensate for their “flaw”.

TEEN DIARIES: How has being dark-skinned affected your dating life?
KW: For the most part my complexion hasn’t been a huge factor. I’ve been attracted to guys who happened to have a preference, just like I’ve attracted and dated others who didn’t. I try not to let those who aren’t interested get to me because as cliché as it sounds, it really is true-“there’s plenty of fish in the sea”!

TEEN DIARIES: List some ‘brown girls’ who inspire you?
KW: My beautiful mother and aunt are the “brown girls” at the top of my list. They are extremely supportive, encouraging and are the reason I am the woman I am today. Other women who inspire me are Oprah (because of my mom), India Arie (because of my aunt), Keke Palmer, Michelle Obama, Bre Scullark of America’s Next Top Model, my favorite actresses Gabrielle Union and Kerry Washington, Maya Angelou and last but not least the lovely Ms. Aeshia De’vore Branch !

TEEN DIARIES: What do you hope to achieve with your site/brand?
KW: I want to encourage all girls of a darker complexion to feel comfortable and confident in their skin. I want ‘FBG’ to be a catalyst for change encouraging self-love and instilling pride in one’s skin complexion. The “movement’s goal will be for new generations of dark skinned girls to not even have one thought of wishing to be lighter, to never doubt their beauty. My hope is for this “issue” to eventually be virtually nonexistent, but it does start with us. I’m also hoping I can do my part and make a change to where, dark skinned girls know they are beautiful no matter what anyone says. I am also working on launching a t-shirt line to further enforce these ideas, empowering women and promoting self-love messages.

Tags: Colorism, dark skinned, Exclusive Interview, Inspiration, Self Esteem, Self-Image, Skin color, Skin Color Discrimination

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 25th, 2011 at 8:59 pm and is filed under A Moment of Inspiration, Hot Topics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.