Lupita Nyongo’s debut children’s picture book ‘Sulwe’ has finally been released. The book is about a girl whose skin is the ‘color of midnight’, who is darker than everyone in her family.
The word ‘Sulwe’ means a star in Luo language. Lupita’s book is basically about colorism and self-esteem, in her book she talks about how she learnt that true beauty comes from within.
The award winning actress on October 1st (her book debut date) took to social media to narrate the inspiration behind her children’s book.
Lupita shared a photo of herself while she was only and kid and narrated how a younger her inspired her to write a book about colorism.
“This is 5-year-old me. I reflected on this little girl’s feelings and fantasies when I decided to write my children’s book, #Sulwe. With this book, I wanted to hold up a mirror for her. Here’s why: As a little girl reading, I had all of these windows into the lives of people who looked nothing like me, chances to look into their worlds, but I didn’t have any mirrors. While windows help us develop empathy and an understanding of the wider world, mirrors help us develop our sense of self, and our understanding of our own world. They ground us in our body and our experiences.
“#Sulwe holds up a mirror for dark-skinned children especially, to see themselves reflected immediately, and it is a window for all the others to cherish peering into. Colorism, society’s preference for lighter skin, is alive and well. It’s not just a prejudice reserved for places with a largely white population. Throughout the world, even in Kenya, even today, there is a popular sentiment that lighter is brighter.
“I imagined what it would have been like for this little girl to turn the pages of her picture books and see more dark skin in a beautiful light. This book is my dream come true for kids like her today. #Sulwe arrives October 15. ✨ Link in bio to pre-order,” wrote Lupita.
