It’s so common to see statements and hashtags declaring that “Representation Matters!”
But we don’t often enough explain how or why it matters so much.
Representation Matters because the way people are represented in society directly impacts how they are treated in society.
Physical, material, and political violence against a group is always preceeded and enabled by negative propaganda, harmful narratives, and dehumanizing visual and verbal rhetoric about that group.
And by “representation” I mean both the misrepresentation and the absence or lack of representation.
As I’ve said before it’s both quantity and quality of representation that matters.
When it comes to creating justice around colorism, immerse yourself in representations of dark-skinned Black women created by people who actually LOVE Dark-Skinned Black Women.
Immerse yourself in images of people loving dark-skinned Black women and spread those images far and wide.
When was the last time you’ve seen an image of people loving dark-skinned Black women and girls?
When was the last time you created and/or shared such an image yourself?
This is your homework!
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