“Why are we still talking about [colorism]?” a man off camera asks in the new OWN Spotlight special Dark Girls 2. “Because it’s still relevant,” a woman replies.
Oprah Winfrey’s network just released the first look of the follow-up to the explosive 2011 documentary on colorism in the Black community. The original doc featured first-person accounts of women, including Academy Award winner Viola Davis, voicing their struggles with colorism and discrimination. It also explored the history of colorism and how it’s consciously or unconsciously taught to Black children.
Directed, written and executive-produced by D. Channsin Berry, the sequel challenges those who think colorism is an outdated conversation by reminding viewers that it’s still pervasive today.
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The sequel also takes a closer look at how societal prejudice based on skin color affects the self-esteem of Black women around the globe. The trailer follows a woman explaining that in certain parts of Ghana women strive to lighten their skin constantly because “they don’t see themselves as being Black and beautiful.”
Dark Girls 2 actively connects what one interviewee calls the “colonial legacy” of colorism to recent incidents occurring today, including ignorant comments made by rappers on social media about their dating preference.
It also explores the popularity of skin bleaching as a response to the collective trauma colorism has inflicted on Black people and exposes some of the risks associated with the practice.
OWN’s Dark Girls 2 premieres June 30 at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT.