By right, I really ought not to be calling my 11-year-old godson a babe or a suckling. In fact, he’d probably bomb-rush me and refuse to speak to me ever again for attempting to publicly brand him as such, so…I won’t!
The media has been littered with commentary stemming from Vybz Kartel’s Cake Soap and alleged advocacy of the skin-lightening practice. I’ve read Mamachel’s thoughts on it (while trying not to choke over my lunch due to laughter), Annie Paul’s reflection and Yard Edge’s perspective as well. I’ve also read at length in local papers about the same issue.
None of these could prepare me for the conversation I had with said godchild on BlackBerry Messenger yesterday.
It went something like this:
Him (via broadcast message, no less!!): People have teeth and some r blue but u know what I have light skin
Me: WHAT?! X_X
Him (undoubtedly puzzled at my inability to comprehend ‘the hell his message means): Why you say what?
Me (wondering if I’m going to lose ‘cool points’ by revealing I’m clueless as to this new young people slang): What does “People have teeth and some r blue but u know what I have light skin” mean?!
Him (exasperated at the simpleton his godmother seems to be, I guess): That is supposed to be that. And I say stuff like that most of the times.
Me: That is SO random!!!
Him (smugly, I’d imagine): I know
Me: Is light skin important?
Him: To me.
STOP THE PRESSES. WHAT?! At this point, the alarm bell that was tinkling in the back of my head was starting to get a little louder. I realised that this was one of those instances where I needed to step in and perform my duties as godmother by protecting and nourishing this child’s moral/spiritual/etc values.
Me (after figuring out how to break it down for the young man, and confident in the depth of my explanation): Being light-skinned isn’t important. At the end of the day we all look the same inside. If a bomb were to fall out of the sky right now and every1′s skin fell off, nobody would know light/dark skinned people apart from each other
Him (again, I guess, convinced his godmother is a fool): LOOLOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now, there endeth the relevant portion of our conversation. Try as I might, I couldn’t extract the reason or source for the importance he’s placed on being light-skinned.
I’d love to find someone to point an accusatory finger at, blaming them for corrupting my sweet boy’s mind, and…well, I kind of want to blame Vybz Kartel – and other mainstream celebs who put lighter skin on a “pedal-stool”. Why? This child listens to Kartel ALL the time. He knows the lyrics to lots of his songs (whereas I don’t!) and knows how to use them in conversation wittily. Example, his dad got a new pair of shoes… Godchild: “Ey, where you get dem new Clarks from Dawdie?” (an obvious reference to Kartel’s Clarks) … Me: *face-palm*
On Twitter, as recently as last week I’d imagine, someone said – re the Vybz Kartel/people bleaching thing – that Kartel and other entertainers cannot be held responsible for the actions of the people listening to their music. People need to take responsibility for their own actions instead of placing the blame on an external source.
Now, how the hell do I apply this to an 11-year-old who: a) doesn’t live with me and b) doesn’t seem to be adversely affected by anything he listens to. Wait…maybe I should scratch that last point; the importance he’s placed on being ‘light-skinned’ is novel and, if I’m guessing correctly, appeared around the same time that Cake Soap hit the airwaves.
So, now I’d like to pose this question. Do you think that music with lyrical content that could have an adverse effect on impressionable minds should be taken off the airwaves entirely, aired after 8pm (for argument’s sakes) or left as-is?
Music can be offensive – and harmful – with or without the use of profanity. Perhaps it would be wise for broadcasters to see past the ‘if it doesn’t have profanity then it’s perfectly fine to air’ mentality and think about the possible social ramifications of airing certain songs during peak hours, i.e. when their listeners include kids of all ages.
Is it too much to ask for broadcasters to be more socially aware, though? Believe me, I’m not saying take all offensive music off-air – nor am I calling all dancehall music offensive – but perhaps it would be best to restrict the available hours on-air for certain songs.
I’m ending this entry with an invitation for discussion – and advice on tackling my godson and the light-skinned phenomenon.
Come visit me nuh, we can have some Cinnamon Coffee!
Lata!
NickMack
Sorry! Had to LMAO @ Pedal stool first. Sigh… I’ve been trying in my own way to advocate for social awareness; especially this light skinned trauma, where I as a black woman make it my duty to get tanned! Might of swell watch paint dry than convince these hypnotized products of media to see an enlightened version to LIFE. It is VERY SAD! Question is, what/where/how can those who care enough to help, reach out?
Good post!
=) Thank you!
What about the idea that the reason he’s proud of his light skin is that he may have been praised for it, he gets all kinds of perks from it, he sees within Jamaican society that most leaders and certainly the elite are lighter-skinned–(just look at our cabinet!)
sorry but pointing the finger at DJs is a cop out!
I did think so, as well – re pointing finger @ VK being a cop-out…I just asked the youngster, “So – tell me, why is being light-skinned important to you?” He looked at me, exasperatedly, and said, “I don’t know! It just is – I can’t explain.”…. So I think it’s environmental (ie based on what he’s picking up from the way that society works) and *maybe* also a bit because of his favourite DJ…
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We must must must teach our children in our homes to combat all the influences they are being bombarded with out of the home. I am dark skinned and proud & there is no reason anyone shouldn’t be light/dark skinned and proud but this complexion obsession is the height of stupidity which I don’t think it should be ignored (as I would most stupid ppl/things) because it is indicative of a deeper problem with us as a people. Knowing who we (as a part of a race of people) and where we come from is soooo important and every black boy and girl still has to be taught this because we remain mentally enslaved as a people. .
this discussion all comes back to the society we want for our children. unfortunately, saying that we should legislate out all negative things in society is not only a logistic nightmare, but terribly unproductive at the end of the day. we can’t shield our children from everything forever. Frankly, even if we succeed at this early on in their lives, when they grow old enough to have to make their own decisions, I am not sold that the majority of them will be as equipped to compete against all these forces in the world as maybe they should. Of course there is a fine line in terms of when and how to introduce these profoundly difficult social questions (i.e. when do i start talking to my child about sex, drugs, alcohol, profanity, etc.). Each parent or guidance figure has to realize that the same old formulas may or may not work. Knowing your child is supremely important in this day and age of instant unfiltered information. There is no magic bullet to solve these issues, but I do know that keeping things hidden for as long as you can doesn’t seem to work so well. I still think that parents need to exert control but not to the point of suffocation.
cool like mi wash mi face wid di cake soap! #giggle
I never listened to dancehall music as a child. I probably wanted to and tried, but I never could because I was never allowed. And if I ever picked up a tune on the road and “tink me bad” and sing it at home I’d be severely punished for it. Parents need to squash this __abnormal__ behavior at home and explain to their children why it isnt allowed. I understood from very early that while zim zimma sounds cool, it was too materialistic for me to idolize. Now as an adult, I’m far less critical of dancehall music and I probably know every word in these songs, but they have very noticeable effect on how I live my life. Children need a strong hand to make sure they grow right. Bad habits will always come but squash them early and often.
You end up being the uncool parent for the first 20 or so years, then they love you for it.
***but they don’t have a very noticeable effect on how I live my life.***
Thanks for the feedback guys, keep it coming – nice discussion and interesting views surfacing. After trying to resume our conversation today while spending some QT, my godson has informed me that he doesn’t know WHY being light-skinned is important, he just knows that that’s the way it is. It’s odd though, at first during our initial conversation he was quite casual/flippant in his admission, and now he’s rather wary. I wonder if he saw the link to this post on Twitter O_o…
Jokes aside, it is of utmost importance to teach the younger members of our society that skin colour doesn’t matter – no one chose the colour of their skin when they were born; it was the result of a random combination of genetics. I don’t think teaching them that dark skin is important/good – because then you end up with the unanswered question “if dark skin is good, then light skin is…bad?”…
The anecdote I gave my godson about everyone being the same on the inside – my father, a surgeon for decades, told me that as a child growing up. With that image ingrained in my mind, and constantly being reminded, I grew up not believing in the importance of pigment because I knew that regardless of the colour of the bag holding our bones, muscles and bodily fluids, the contents all look the same.
I wish this was taught/explained to children in school, rather than nurturing a ferocious pride in skin colour. Sometimes that pride backfires and you end up with what some asses call ‘reverse racism’ – ie people of dark skin discriminating against those with light skin. I scoff at the term reverse racism because racism is just what it is.
Thanks for this thought provoking post. Just another voice saying that our problem is much bigger than Kartel. What is it about our thought about blackness that makes people respond to his message in the way they do?
oh my poor baby brother. he is a kartel addict, i have tried hard to curb the kartel influence, but i can’t blame solely kartel for the importance he’s placed on lighter skin. despite the sense of pride i personally have tried to instill in him, we’re fighting a bigger battle here. our eurocentric ideals are strong. and by our i mean our family, i mean all jamaicans. he learns in standard english that ‘anything black nuh good’. his grammar is corrected daily at school and at home. on tv he sees light skin and wavy hair, and i’m talking about local tv, tvj and cvm, not just the disney and nickelodeon with which he is also obsessed. he sees at school that the children with lighter skin and longer hair are favoured and although he does not right now have the words to explain himself, he knows that lighter is better and white and right. and breaking him out of that is going to be a hard task but goodness knows i’m trying. but the road ahead is long.