My father spoke about Fela often, particularly when discussing Nigerian politics.
I didn't understand why Fela was such a relevant figure in politics and human rights, I simply saw him an artist. I never knew the title of the song back then, but when I heard yellow fever I was immediately hooked to its catchy verses and jazz like beat.
Fast forward almost two decades later, I'm sat in a classroom with a group of year teens (aged 14 and 15) who have been revising for their mock exams. During a short break, I noticed the majority of them on their smartphones.
The female students were on Instagram viewing the likes of; Beyonce, Blac Chyna, Rihanna, and Kim Kardashian. I asked what was so fascinating about these celebrities? An interesting discussion followed suit.
'She has a nice body... Her skin is flawless... I so want her shape...she's light skinned... she's perfect... her teeth are so white.' The male pupils joined with 'if I was a few years older I would move to that.'
(I'm guessing that means they would try and toast them)
What stunned me was when I heard one student openly profess that she wanted to have cosmetic surgery to alter the shape of her nose. She further went on to say she wished to lighten her skin by three of four shades. I inquired why she felt she needed to do that? Her response... 'but look at lolly sweets though', I replied 'lolly who?' This is not about name dropping but I decided it's time I present the aspirations of your average inner city teenager to the world.
I turned to the whiteboard and created two headings; Ideal man and Ideal woman. The pupils were to list the characteristics of what they deemed for each. Not surprisingly the ideal woman was fair in complexion, with long hair and white teeth. She was slim, top heavy, with a small waist and large hips.
I met with the pupil who mentioned cosmetic surgery one to one. She said she was often teased because of the shape of her nose saying it was too African, she was also called black and ugly because of her dark complexion. Growing up she noticed that light skinned girls were liked by everyone, they were the ones to always win competitions, and always had people willing to assist them. Her mother was fairer than herself and used bleaching creams to maintain her skin tone. She closed by detailing how she wished to marry a white man so that her children wouldn't have the same experience that she did. Her comments hit me in a way I did not expect. I was mortified. This young lady was convinced that lighter skinned individuals had better life chances and I was able to see why.
Despite the fact that Slavery was abolished over one hundred and eighty years ago it appears that both African and western societies still perpetuate a subconscious mentality that promotes a white ideal. Steve Biko stated that 'being black is not a matter of pigmentation, being black is a reflection of mental attitude.'
Hence proven in the recent case of Simone Powderly, who was told to take out her braids by her recruitment agency. View link below.
http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/lose-braids-or-lose-job
In yellow fever, Fela depicts skin bleaching as a mental sickness. Four decades after its release, skin bleaching is no new phenomena. I do not promote it but I can understand why people do it. With extreme cases such as Irene major; a successful dark skinned model who underwent intensive bleaching regimes to acquire a light complexion... why someone would decide to do such after breaking into and establishing herself in a covertly racist industry is beyond me, thus evident that the roots of skin bleaching are not so clear cut. I only hope she feels happier now that she fits the ideal.
Who steal my bleaching?
My precious bleaching?
I buy am for shopping
For forty naira
How I go yellow?
How I go find out?
I go die o
I go die o
I go die o
