In a live video streaming through her Facebook fan page, Azealia Banks addressed her controversial decision to bleach her skin. Banks claims her choice to lighten her skin shouldn’t take away from her pro-black platform:
I think that for so many people to say ‘Oh you wanting to lighten your skin’ to say that it negates anything that I’ve said about the current situation of blackness in America is ignorant and just stupid. What do body modifications have to do with somebody’s level of intellect. The two don’t correlate. They absolutely do not correlate. I think it’s petty. I think it’s very contradictory.
If people were looking for me to be some of messiah for black empowerment or black rights and my decision to bleach my skin [sic], lighten my skin made you not believe in me, I would just kind of question your priorities.
Banks later accompanied her video by penning two essays for her Facebook fan page (emphasis ours).
I told you all two years ago that as a black woman I stand for reparations and autonomy. All of the rest of the shit is petty. Cultural appropriation, who wears what, natural hair, relaxed, bleached or not, NONE of us will be getting any real respect until we’ve been given what we are owed. And I think it’s unfair to the cause to negate all of the very IMPORTANT things I’ve said in regards to that, just because I like to relax my hair and lighten my skin. As a group it’s VERY important to stay focused and not get side tracked by these small moments of artists “putting it in the music,” because they do so and then they disappear/aren’t coming up with any REALISTIC solutions to all of the pain and suffering we go through as a people. Galvanizing behind a leader who’s ultimate goal is to receive reparations is the ONLY WAY out of this. If you didn’t understand it two years ago, and still don’t get it now and still continue to get hung up on petty shit or be satisfied when super rich black people who don’t live the daily struggle make a song about it or raise a fist ….. Then I guess we truly are fucked.
Banks also stressed that she feels there is no difference between a hair relaxer an skin lightening cream.
Banks video did pose a point of dialog for many. Should we uphold activists to a standard in which we erase their ability to be flawed and human? Is it completely unacceptable for some of our ‘woke’ faves to be insecure?
A few folks on twitter continued the conversation.
Her lightening her skin doesn’t take away from anything she said in that Hot 97 interview.
— La Miki Minach (@fioyb) July 2, 2016
Because despite Azealia lightening her skin, she’s spoken on black issues A LOT more than some of your favorite artists…
— La Miki Minach (@fioyb) July 2, 2016
This February 29 tweet illustrates the point perfectly.
Lmao how are u gonna be woke yet mock those who struggle with self-love like we don't all struggle with internalized racism
— ART MAMI (@sofahood) February 29, 2016
What are your thoughts?