If you own a computer or a smartphone and an internet service, you’ve probably seen the “Sara ElHassan – Video Response”.
Now, like most of you, by the end of the video I was screaming “YASSSS” at the top of my lungs and ready to remake the clip into a Beyonce video. But then a few days passed, allowing the reality of it to percolate into my brain and I was beset with sadness.
More so, I was angry. Angry for her anger. Angry that the things she said still have to be said.
The video also opened my eyes to the fact that unless you fit a certain mold, you can never be comfortable with how you look in Sudan. A mold that most of the time, contradicts the African nature of our features.
While the aim is to teach girls that their worth is not and will never be in outside approval, the fact remains that the biggest enemy of the dark-skinned Sudanese girl’s self esteem is the Sudanese society itself.
How you ask?
Well, between advertisements projecting images of sad, dark-skinned girls suddenly finding happiness upon using the advertised skin-lightening product, and the general media mainly representing European features, the self esteem of a Sudanese girl is already as easy to maintain as straightened hair in the middle of Summer.
But when you add to it the hate voiced by people of her own race, it becomes impossible to maintain (think: straightened hair in Autumn).
Sudanese men and women alike express hate towards African features, having only negative words to describe the full lips, wide nose, tightly-curled hair and dark brown skin that came with the African land we live in and the African air we breathe.
We, as a society, are brainwashed to think that unless the features of a face are Eurocentric, they are ugly. Little girls are told that they “would be pretty if they had lighter skin”, they are made fun of for having full lips. From the age of 9, all a dark-skinned female wants to do is clean off the brown in her, because she is convinced that brown is ugly, that brown is dirty.
Sudanese girls are most uncomfortable for looking African, in their African country.
How does that make you feel?
Rant Central Station 
Well said ya Dinan…I am so proud of you .I am also proud of our African features ❤
D,
You have so succinctly yet emotively expressed a battle that like you said, we should not still be having.
I have not blogged in two years. I lost the energy after a year in Sudan (plus I am probably about a decade older than you and my bones hurt 🙂 But this has now inspired me to share when, how and why I gained my pride in blackness.
Thank you so much Samah,
I look forward to reading your story.
This is absolutely superb!
Love you & your writings endlessly.
Reblogged this on SHG: Sudan Hub Group.
Yes I liked her video response, and to be honest, I liked muchly the humor, and the creative skepticism that she subject her response to! Regarding the “African Features Rejection” topic, It is a global movement, blind one actually, towards the prevailing race specifications and standards, which is will never happen. People should be themselves, I do not even encourage African to be African, or American to be American, I worry much about Sara being not Sara, and me being not me, you being not you, etc, etc, etc.
I think that will be a solution, that goes around the undesired solution, the unacceptable solution, and the un-thought-of solution.
What do you think of this?