Pop Culture: Lupita Nyong’o
Besides the debate about her being born
in Mexico not qualifying her for diaspora
credit, this young lady is not a foreigner to
her dad’s birth place of Kenya. She spent
her early years in acting in Kenya before
furthering her education at Hampshire
College with a bachelor’s degree in film
and theatre studies. From this she on to win
an Oscar for best supporting actress in the
topical film 12 years a Slave...
A Grammy is cool, however, the biggest
value, we find she has added is the African
representation of beauty. In fighting the
prejudice against the concept behind
‘global beauty’, Lupita gave an inspirational
acceptance speech during the Oscar
ceremony.
Lupita spoke openly about her struggles
with beauty due to a lack of celebrated
African women in the industry and her
17
inner struggle with being dark skinned.
Claiming it was women such as Alek Wek
that pulled her out of the hate for her ‘dark
as night’ skin. She appealed to women all
over to understand ‘you can’t eat beauty as
it doesn’t feed you.’ But that representation
of every woman is important as there is ‘no
shade in beauty’. This came at a time where
skin lightening started to pick up immensely
in Africa and although it is still an issue,
Lupita continues to represent honesty,
strength and beauty.
Since her Hollywood inauguration, she
has become the first African ‘face’ signed
to Lancôme, honoured as one of the most
beautiful woman and even woman of the
year. She has certainly been reigned in the
reputation of being the “It girl” for a while,
appearing in fashion pages across the globe
- including the fashion forward, Vogue.
IMBO/ ISSUE 32/ '14