Falling Black in Love week
at Florida A&M University has been a week of awe-inspiring motivational
speakers, hot button issues and a call on our community to address the
realities we face everyday through open discussions.
Described by Eric Troy Wright Jr., organizer
of this fundraiser and two time graduate of FAMU as,
“A
movement committed to paying both respect and homage to the incredible feats,
accomplishments, and achievements of
the African American community from around the world. In a time when the image
of Black men, women, and youth have been both distorted and misrepresented, It
is vital that people of color be affirmed in who they are.”
(Help Support the Movement http://www.gofundme.com/78g6b8)
(Help Support the Movement http://www.gofundme.com/78g6b8)
Arian Simone hosted the
Does Pretty Hurt event as apart of her FEARLESS Discussions movement featuring an
all-star panel of FAMU alumni, make-Up artist Siteria Gregory, former Miss FAMU
and beauty consultant Aisha Everett and one former professor, psychology
expert, and editor of FEARLESS Jenay Sermon. But what really set off this panel
off was the surprise feature guest of the night, who took the place of Tika Sumpter,
Ms. Michelle Williams.
The panel discussion,
which included plenty of audience, feed back featured topics like, colorism,
cosmetic surgery, size, self-worth, and what we define as beauty. The overall message
and name of the discussion coming from the lyrics of Beyonće’s popular
song “Pretty Hurts,”
“Pretty hurts, we shine the light on whatever's worst, we try to fix
something but you can't fix what you can't see it's the soul that needs the
surgery”
Students as well as panelist shared their views, and the general consensus became, that we all define our beauty, and what matters most is what your inner beauty reflects.
Araian
Simone does a great job of facilitating discussion rather than debate,
encouraging diversity and unity and reminding us all that as black men and
women we must stand together.
The
feature guest 3 time Grammy award winning artist Michelle Williams was
surprised that colorism was still an prevalent issue, as young women shared
their stories of racial bias on campus from black men, bringing up terms such
as #TeamLightSkin vs. #TeamDarkskin to her attention for the first time.
Michelle also chimed in on another hot
topic natural hair, which was led by an all-natural panel, speaking about wearing
lace fronts during her time on Broadway, which she says the lace wigs were
originally made, the importance of proper removal, and how she lost a job
opportunity because of her trying out a natural look recalling,
“I came in with my natural hair, my
curls were laid and it was really cute, I was really feeling myself, and the
guy was like, ‘We were expecting the girl from Destiny’s Child’ and I was just
so mad like seriously?”
This also sparked an interesting
discussions about the reasons black women perm their hair and how it relates to
the love of your African roots. Some calling the natural hair movement a trend,
others happy it has become more acceptable, despite criticism of natural styles
being considered unprofessional, most recently by the U.S. Army, as
demonstrated at the Pretty Hurts photo shoot by Ferissa Connel, who also spoke
about her experience during the discussion.
Overall I do believe the mission Arian
opened with was obtained stating,
“You will leave this discussion knowing
that you were designed on purpose and for a purpose, having a greater
appreciation for your unique self and understanding of your self worth, and with
more confidence in who you are and how you look right now.”
Arian ended with an
inspirational message of how she rose to became a celebrity publicist after at
a time when she was broke, homeless, and snuck into the 2004 BET Awards, after
losing her job just one month after moving to LA.
“I learned how to dance in the rain. You never let your
situation or circumstances dictate your feelings, even when all this stuff was
going on in my life…It doesn’t matter what’s going on, you decide your
emotions, and you can choose to be happy everyday.” As she smiles and leaves us
with her iconic laugh.