SUMMER OF 2011 ON THE COLOR INITIATIVE

A GLOBAL VIEW OF THE COLOR BLACK
(photo by Nancy Thomas)

In an upcoming series on PRI's The World, we'll look at the global perception of black skin color. We speak with a cognitive psychologist who has studied initial reactions to skin phenotypes, political scientists, a refugee from Darfur, historians, Chinese students, a development specialist from Yemen, African expats, Latin American activists and others.

There have been many attempts to understand blackness. Among the most classic explorations was Frantz Fanon’s "Black Skin, White Masks". (see video clip) Fanon observed that the most common view of black skin –which exists in hues from tan to charcoal and shades of gray –was a denial of recognition. Other perceptions at the time of the Algerian Revolution, and still in force today, are heavily weighted down in stereo-types.

So we ask these questions: Can anything or anyone change the universal or global perception of blackness? Is it even necessary in a world where perceptions of race and racism are changing, albeit slowly?   Does the fact that race is a social construct in any way mitigate anti-black skin prejudice? And does the ascendency of prominent individuals of African descent (Obama, Mandela, Rice, Powell) connote "post-racial" progress, or merely obfuscates what some regard as an immutable negative frame of reference to black skin color? 

COLOR INITIATIVE 12 & 13: People with Albinism and Their Place in the Sun

Albinism worldwide

By Clark Boyd ⋅ July 28, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

"Albinos" in much of sub-Saharan Africa are in danger. People with albinism lack the pigment melanin in their eyes, skin, and hair. It’s a genetic defect, but in much of Africa, it’s also reason for extreme, and deadly, prejudice. Phillip Martin has been reporting for our program on race and color around the world. This is the first of two stories Martin prepared on the growing threat to albinos. As one interviewee told him:

I can tell you that throughout the whole area of Africa, beliefs exist that people with albinism are cursed, that the mother had sex with the white man, that she had sex with a European ghost, that these people are evil, that they’re possessed, that they’re substandard, that the disease is contagious. There’s a host of myths that prevail for hundreds of years for people with albinism in large parts of Africa.

Listen to Part 1:
Download MP3
To see more photos from Tanzania, click here.

In part two of Phillip Martin’s series on albinism worldwide, he surveys global efforts to show albinos in a more favorable light. Martin interviews Rick Guidotti, a fashion photographer who, in 1999, photographed a young albino woman named Christine (at left) for a Life Magazine photo essay entitled “Redifining Beauty.” Guidotti remembers:

“She walked into my studio with her head down, shoulders hunched, eyes down as well, one word answers, no eye contact. This kid had zero self esteem because of being teased her entire life because of her albinism. So I thought, well I’m going to photograph her in respect to the way I would photograph anyone, Cindy or Claudia. So the lights went on, the music the fan. I grabbed a mirror, and was like, ‘Christine look.’ This kid looked in the mirror, and for the first time, saw a beautiful girl.”

Listen to Part 2:
Download MP3

To see more of Rick Guidotti’s pictures, click here, or visit Rick’s website, Positive Exposure.

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The Color Initiative is funded by the Ford Foundation, with additional resources provided by the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities and the Funding Exchange (Paul Robeson Fund).

COLOR INITIATIVE REPORTS 10 and 11: THE INCREDIBLE WHITENESS OF BEING IN ASIA

THE COLOR INITIATIVE: A TWO-PART REPORT ON SKIN WHITENING IN ASIA: On PRI's The World

**Honored with the 2010 Asian American Journalism Award for RadioMarch 11th, 2009  PART ONE

Skin whitening is a growing industry in China, Japan, and India. For many Asians whitening is part of a long tradition, but these days it's also the result of the powerful influence of white western culture.
http://www.theworld.org/node/25036

March 12th, 2009   PART TWO

However not everyone in Asia wants whiter skins, Phillip Martin tells how many middle class Asians are now moving away from creating white complexions and going for a Western-style tan. http://www.theworld.org/node/25061 THE COLOR INITIATIVE on PRI's The WORLD (the BBC, WGBH and PRI) -- March 11 and 12.

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The Color Initiative is funded by the Ford Foundation

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ON NPR's TELL ME MORE    --PRESIDENT  OBAMA, RACE and DIVERSITY in CHINA

President Obama was in China in November of 2009 where he addressed a range of issues, chief among them, trade. But President Obama's visit was also sparking questions about another issue in the region: race and diversity. NPR's Anthony Kuhn and Public Radio International's Phillip Martin, who have reported on minority issues in Asia, discussed the plight of ethnic minorities in the region and the significance of President Obama's visit.

Listen to the Interview on NPR's Tell Me More

IN COLOR

THE COLOR INITIATIVE

“The Color Initiative” is an on-going series of reports on PRI's The World (with the BBC/WGBH) that examines complex global issues of politics, culture, history and society through the framework of human perceptions and experiences related to skin color. The project is made possible by a grant from the Ford Foundation and additional funding from the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities and the Funding Exchange.