Power of black!
AS a little boy, I sometimes saw chopped wood in a bottle in the house and my inquisitiveness always drew the response that it was medicine.
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The colour black is often associated with fear, death and evil. But black is also associated with far more edifying connotations such as strength, authority, elegance, formality, mystery, and sophistication. And there is every good reason why the colour black is the prescribed dress code for lawyers around the world. For similar reasons, a world-famous beer brand has invested millions of advertising dollars in celebrating the beauty of its black heritage.
Counterbalance this with what is happening in our Ghanaian and the larger African fashion and beauty industry. Many of our country women and men both young and old, are behaving in ways that tend to tilt the scales in favour of the more morbid meanings of black; all in the name of a warped concept of what is considered beautiful.
Skin bleaching and effects
It is common knowledge, for instance, that skin bleaching like wild fire, is wreaking havoc in the land - Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana. It literally burns into the African skin, leaving embarrassing blemishes on the glossy beauty of our God given blackness; almost in the same way as the menace of galamsey has impacted our once beautiful forests and water bodies.
The amount of money, time and energy dedicated to worshipping on the altar of skin bleaching is indeed mind boggling. At least, six in every ten Ghanaian women are said to be actively or passively engaged in the act. Also otherwise known as skin toning, this singular and debilitating act of vanity impoverishes our nation by up to 500 million US Dollars per annum and, thus, puts needless pressure on our dwindling dollar reserves as a struggling economy. So every time you see a ship load of cosmetics arriving on our shores, know that we sink a little deeper into the morass of our own twisted sense of beauty.
But skin bleaching does even more damage! It eats into our collective soul as a people and undermines our self confidence in the world of things. It is a blatant contradiction of God’s purpose when He deliberately created a kaleidoscope of delightful colours in nature for man’s enjoyment. Ever seen a piano with only white keys? You also equally need the black keys to be able to play some harmonious tunes!
Enforce ban on skin bleaching agents
Don't you think it is about time, therefore, that our combined muscle of gate keeping regulators woke up from their slumber? Apart from merely banning skin bleaching agents on stacks of paper laws, this writer humbly appeals to our statutory regulating bodies (Food and Drugs Authority, Ghana Standards Authority, Ghana Health Service, Customs Division of GRA) to stand up and be counted.
Firstly, prohibit from market entry any such beauty product whose name hints of a change in skin colour. Names such as “Clear”, “Clere”, “Clair”, “Light”, “Pure Skin” and so on should be hunted down and taken out of sale.
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Secondly, advertising practitioners and their clients who colourfully celebrate light-skinned models on television and on billboards should begin to do some introspection and self regulation. As a matter of ethics, they should instead begin to tap into the power of mass messaging in order to showcase the radiance of the colour black as the highest and most desirable standard in the African concept of beauty and dignity.
They should take a cue from the advertising of a famous stout beer whose heritage is Irish, and yet being “Made of Black,” unabashedly celebrates the colour black in a most seductive way! Or better still seek inspiration from GTP and how they bring our Ghanaian fabrics to life by parading a rich cast of ordinary black and beautiful Ghanaian men and women in their advertising.
And last but not least, those real life, but silly looking caucasian mannequins which adorn shop fronts from Makola to shopping malls and clothing boutiques in our towns and cities must not be allowed into Ghana. The reason is simple. Ghanaians and Africans were created Black and must remain so forever more! Now is the time for the Tiger to sing its “Tigritude". Now is the time for the Ghanaian, and indeed for all of black Africa to rise up and sing as one “Black is strong, sophisticated and beautiful!”
email: think_create_explore@yahoo.com