Within communities of color, colorism – bias against people with darker skin tone – is deeply felt but rarely discussed. Darker-skinned people have to fight an additional layer of prejudice, sometimes from their own communities, but the topic remains largely taboo.
We created Shades of Black, a special editorial series, to encourage discussion about colorism as well as to introduce and explain the problem to those unaware.
We explored this under-reported topic through the lenses of 27 black women – writers, photographers, activists, artists, and mothers – who reflected on the problem in personal essays, video and photographic work, and longform journalism.
The series was read by over 1.2 million people and was a finalist for an Online Journalism Award, plus sparked a provocative conversation.
Dream McClinton, a Guardian fellow at the time, wrote the anchor feature for the series, “Why dark-skinned black girls like me aren’t getting married”. She said she often felt drained while reporting and writing the piece; it reinforced what she always suspected – that her darker skin tone made her less desirable to men – and she found the data to prove it. Other women who contributed to the project expressed similar emotional fatigue.
Although it was taxing for McClinton and the other contributors, their vulnerability helped this project resonate – to us that means it was successful.
Shades of Black is one of the reporting projects we funded with the $1m in reader donations we raised during our end-of-year drive last winter.
Now through January, we hope to raise $1.5m to fund more journalism like this in 2020. With your help, we will continue to fight for the progressive values we hold dear – democracy, civility, truth.
Please consider making a contribution. And as always, thanks for reading.
