In a time of #BlackGirlMagic, why is Toke Makinwa trying to sell us her antidote?

Toke teased fans with images of her nude and covered in glitter and quite literally 'glowing'. Many speculated that Toke was launching a (long-overdue) cosmetics linebut she later confirmed that she was indeed working with Buluwa Inc, a US-based beauty developer to create a line of skin lightening products.

We have barely recovered from the slew of September issues celebrating black women of all shapes and colours and the overwhelming beauty in blackness and now this. It begs the questions that in a time of #BlackGirlMagic, why is Toke Makinwa trying to sell us the antidote?

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According to the press release:

Glow by TM. Toke Makinwa, in partnership with Buluwa Inc, a Californian based beauty developer, launches her global skincare care brand, Glow by TM. TM Beauty redefines the African beauty Rules with it’s formulas and safe ingredients that haven’t made their way to Africa.

For the first time ever, to take care of our skin and give it a radiant glow.

The $2,000,000 partnership was inspired to create safe skincare products that works across all skin types and tones. Glow by TM offers a wide range of Face and body products for traditionally hard-to-manage skin tones, creating formulas that work for all skin types, and pinpointing flawless skin. Just like TM, the brand is feminine, with a complexion-focused product assortment developed to work together and provide everyone with TM’s real-life method for killer radiance glowing skin.

Colourism in Africa

Colourism (skin tone bias) is an intra-racial phenomenon which negatively affects the attitudes and opinions people of colour across the globe hold about each other. Skin tone bias manifests itself though stereotypes and prejudices especially in terms of beauty standards.

Colourism is something that has long-plagued the black community, the world over. The idea that eurocentric features and lighter skin are the standard for beauty have long held black women in bondage and caused them to go to dangerous lengths to conform including skin bleaching. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 77% of Nigerians use skin bleaching products on a daily basis.

Lack of Responsibility

Whilst these statistics may mean big business for the likes of Toke, what is the social and health impact of it all? What examples are we setting for young girls with dark skin by promoting products that will rid them of what makes them uniquely beautiful?

It is no secret that Toke Makinwa bleached her own skin. Old pictures that resurfaced from her days at Unilag showed a much darker looking Toke. However, it's one thing to do that for yourself but it's another to promote it and provide products for other vulnerable and impressionable young women.

According to The Best of Africa:

In terms of skin tone and family dynamics, a recent study carried out on black children with varying skin tones revealed that while lighter skin was positively related to higher levels of pride in racial identity, darker-skinned individuals reported lower self-esteem. Many black females are aware that lighter skin is considered prettier A study by Umberson and Hughes showed that from school to work life, these stereotypes are reinforced. The study shows that light-skinned black women are given preferential treatment when it comes to educational and work opportunities.

Knowing that these bias' exist, instead of feeding into them, it's our responsibility to dismantle them and instead, choose to build up woman of all shades.

Toke Makinwa, considering her platform and the influence she wields, should have been more responsible with the products she chose to put her name on. The message she is sending is incongruent with the direction that we as a people are moving which is towards, acceptance, self-love and understanding that we are all beautiful the way we were made.

For everybody trying to push a product that tell us we can 'look better', we have powerful black role models such as Lupita Nyong'O and Issa Rae amongst others to let us know that there is nothing better than simply being yourself.