By Erickka Sy Savané
I'll be the first to say that when I stumbled across the youtube channel, Light Skin Tears, for light-skin and bi-racial women, I had the same thought as when I first heard of the hair product line 'Mixed Chicks.' Like, seriously, ya'll need to segregate yourselves by calling out the fact that you are mixed? It sounded so pretentious, and I immediately turned off. And then there was the fact that the product was obviously not for my kinky hair. But once I took a listen, this woman has reasons for creating this channel that can't be easily dismissed.
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First off, the creator of the channel, Izidora Storm, says that the site is not for black men. It's for women. All black women are welcome, however, this channel is a safe place where light-skin and bi-racial black women can come and talk about issues specific to them without feeling guilty, being bullied, or told to shut up because dark skin women have it worse, which she says is a scam that light-skinned women have come to accept that leads to them becoming victims. Yea, it's controversial. She's received all kinds of threats and called every name under the sun, but she's a stand for her people and if you listen to what she's saying, really listen, you may find some a lot of what she's saying is true. For instance, she talks about being told that she's not black enough when her DNA test proves that she's 93% African. She's blacker than a lot of black people. Not to mention she grew up in an all-black area somewhere in Cali that she calls "Blackistan." So why the constant having to probe something that is?
But while she makes sense in a lot of areas, she also falls flat, like when she tells light skinned women it's time to take advantage of the privilege we have, but can offer nothing tangible. There's the dating thing, but she herself only dates Asian men.
Okay, so there's a lot to unpack with this channel but the truth is it's only a few months old and her following is building fast. She's got loads of comments- she deletes the negative ones, which I get, but at the same time it would be nice to see her challenged a bit. I'm not saying keep the ones who want to take her life, but discussion and intelligent conversation is good for everyone.
Izidora on why she created this platform
Why are light skin blacks encouraged to hate themselves?
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Erickka Sy Savané is managing editor of CurlyNikki.com, a wife and mom, based in Jersey, City. Her work has appeared in Essence.com, Ebony.com, Madamenoire.com and more. When she’s not writing...wait, she’s always writing! Follow her on Twitter and Instagram or ErickkaSySavane.com
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