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| photo from the Carol’s Daughter FB page |
Senior year of high school, as I was deep in college applications, my friends and I realized something that has since changed my outlook on certain things. The most pressing question on said applications wasn’t the essay question or why we wanted to attend that school. It was, in fact, one so simple yet meaningful in its answer - what ethnicity/ nationality are you? What always struck me as odd was the presence of one box that I was expected to fill - African-American. Problem was, however, I didn’t identify myself as purely African- American or Black. If I had to lump myself in the “Black” category, I’d say I was West Indian - American, considering my parents are from the Caribbean. Even then, I was left uneasy because truth be told, I am an Afro- Latina. My roots lie in one island divided by man-made borders, Hispaniola (that’s Haiti and the Dominican Republic for those of you who forgot your elementary history lessons).
Sure my skin may not be the caramel tones you see sported by some dominicanas (even still I know many a dark skin Dominicans but that’s a topic for another post) and Spanish may not roll off my tongue as easy but I am no less Dominican as, say, Zoe Saldana. Due to cultural and old school barriers, the two sides of my family never saw eye to eye and my family embraced the Haitian elements (however, the two are so similar it’s sad I never got to know that part of my family).
What I love about brown beauty is its diversity. No two girls are the same. While the same rings true for our fairer sisters, brown beauty runs so deep it’s difficult for me to marvel at its wonder.
“What we’re doing now is moving into a polyethnic space. When I say polyethnic, I mean women who are made up of several ethnicities,” Stoute explained. “If you ask them what they are, they’re going to use a lot of different words to describe themselves. That’s in line with the Census data coming out — people are checking much more than two boxes.” Steve Stoute, chairman and lead investor of Carol’s Daughter
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| The Monoi collection: photo from WWD |
When news of the latest ad campaign (above right) by MissWYA fave, Carol’s Daughter, landed in my inbox I was smitten at first, than eventually thrilled. The beauty brand has tapped singer/ occasional DJ Solange Knowles, model Selita Ebanks and R&B singer Cassie as the face of its newest “multiracial” ad campaign. Why is this news? Well for one, all three women identify themselves as beyond black, that is each claim their ancestry from at least two racial groups. Knowles is of African-American and French Creole descent, Cassie is black and Filipina while Ebanks has Jamaican, Irish, Indian and African heritage and grew up in the Cayman Islands. (Although if you take a peek at the brand’s Facebook page, there’s a bit of chatter going on as there isn’t a spokesperson who is of darker complexion — think Alek Wek or even Kelly Rowland. Again another pot for another day).
Carol’s Daughter is attempting to redefine the color of beauty through a single ad campaign. While their skin may say one thing, everything from the texture of their hair to the tones of their skin is different. That in and of itself is beauty. The new visuals are set to be released this summer in stores and in advertising, as well as a newly repackaged line in stores.
What say you — are you loving the new Carol’s Daughter ad? Are you upset at the lack of darker skinned beauties? Have you say below!
Please don’t forget that you can still help the people of Haiti, donate to the Red Cross today. Thank you.
