"Dark Girls": Battling the Stigma and Beauty Standards

After spending two years developing the project, Directors Bill Duke and D. Chandish Berry produced “Dark Girls”, a film which addresses the issue of colorism among blacks and some of the challenges dark-skinned women face. Women of “the darkest hues” are interviewed and discuss their experiences battling the stigmas and standards of beauty many African-Americans attach to skin color. The film serves as an expose into the lives of dark-skinned African-American woman and the racism some encounter within their own community.

Originally premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2011, Dark Girls has now made its way to the small screen and will be debuting on TV nationwide this Sunday.

Oprah will be broadcasting the documentary on her television network OWN from 10 p.m. – midnight, following an episode of Oprah’s Next Chapter at 9 p.m. where she will be talking with stars Gabrielle Union, Alfre Woodard, Viola Davis and Phylicia Rashad on the challenges they face in as black actresses in Hollywood.

Dark-skinned Black American women from all walks of life will be covered with a key focus trained tightly upon women struggling for upward mobility in the workplace of Corporate America.  Additional interviewees for “Dark Girls” include White men in loving intimate relationships with Black women that were passed over by “their own men,” as well as dark-skinned women of Latin and Panamanian background to bring a world perspective to the issue of dark vs. light.