We loved reading Sulwe by Oscar award-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o, about a young Black girl called Sulwe who has the darkest skin in her multihued family and goes on a mission to obtain light skin like that of her sister, Mich. Sulwe is a Luo term meaning “the star,” originating from the Nilotic ethnic group in western Kenya and the Mara Region of northern Tanzania.
She tries everything from putting on her mother’s makeup, rubbing her skin with an eraser and eating food that is “light” to achieve “the color of high noon” skin tone that she wants to gain acceptance from her peers.
Through a supernatural experience, she receives a visit from a star sent by the Night which takes her on a starry adventure, telling her the story of the sisters, Day and Night. She learns that at the beginning of time, Night was also mistreated for her darkness by humans, while her sister Day was praised. Night runs away, leaving the humans with only her sister Day, to never see darkness again. But when Day grew too long, the humans wished to have Night back to get the “deepest rest.” Day showed her sister that there was elegance in her darkness, and that’s when she was the most beautiful.
Sulwe is a poignant and beautifully illustrated story that acts as a mirror for dark-skinned Black children who are poorly represented in literature and sends a powerful message of self-love, and critiques how we, as a society, need to change not only our language but also challenge our internal biases.
Quotes:
“Brightness is not from your skin, my love. Brightness is just who you are.”
“Day told her sister, ‘When you are darkest is when you are most beautiful. It’s when you are most you‘ Could it be that Night did not need to change, not even a little, not even at all?”