by Cindy Lewis
Daily Lobo
In honor of Black Herstory Month, the Women's Resource Center will be showing "Black Women On: The Light, Dark Thang," a documentary film on racial politics within the African American community.
"The film documents dialogue between four or five friends and how they've been treated based on their skin color,"said Andrea Mays, graduate student in comparative literature and cultural studies and organizer of the event. "It talks about how we treat people based on their skin tone within our community and which features are valued higher."
Paula Caffey and Celeste Crenshaw, who created a daily news magazine show for the Black Entertainment Television Network, produced the film in 1999.
"Black Women On: The Light, Dark Thang" covers the origins of skin tone standards, which date back to the colonial era and continue to devalue differences today, Mays said.
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The women in the documentary share personal stories about how being either too dark or too light has affected their lives and relationships.
Mayes said the Women's Resource Center wanted to show the film because it provokes discussion among all types of people.
"We actually showed this film the year before last to a broad audience," Mays said. "There were a lot of folks who came from across ethnic, gender and racial lines. This generated a lively discussion."
Mays said although the film is about African American women in particular, anyone who has ever felt different because of skin color will be able to relate to it.
"We've all been in a situation with people where we've been invisible because we didn't fit some standard," Mays said. "The dialogue in this film takes apart some of the reasons for that invisibility."
What: "Black Women On: The Light, Dark Thang"
When: Monday, noon - 1:30 p.m.
Where: Women's Resource Center
Price: Free
Ticket
Info: 277-3716
