“On #unfairandlovely day, to the Aunty who said my fair skinned son was "lucky" to not look like me: SHUT IT!,” Anuja V wrote on Twitter last month alongside the picture she posted of herself with her son.
Anuja is one of the many people of colour who have recently taken to social media to celebrate the darker shades of beauty using the hashtag “UnfairAndLovely”.
Unfair and Lovely was the brainchild of Pax Jones, Mirusha Yogarajah and her sister Yanusha Yogarajah- all students at the University of Texas.
It started when the Yogarajah sisters, whose parents hail from Sri Lanka, featured in a photo shoot by Pax, who is black, focusing on colourism.
“We decided to name the series Unfair and Lovely in order to address the hyphenated identities of people of color in the West, and colorism in the black and brown communities,” Mirusha told GlobalPost.
“Pax asked us [to take part] after noticing that even many of the advocates/activists addressing racism in the black community who had a large following had light skin. We discussed it, and I noticed the same thing in the South Asian community — activists and advocates with a large audience against racism, sexism, fatphobia, etc., usually were lighter skinned. So this photo shoot occurred, and then we created a hashtag," she said.
She further mentioned that the campaign is “for ANY person of color who is darker skinned — Black, South Asian, Latinx, etc.”
Another campaign that Mirusha is a part of is the Reclaim the Bindi Week (March 8 to March 18) which “fights cultural appropriation by promoting those who identify with the bindi reclaiming their cultures across social media platforms!”
On #unfairandlovely day, to the Aunty who said my fair skinned son was "lucky" to not look like me: SHUT IT! pic.twitter.com/n87BDdrB5q
— Anuja V (@Anuja_V) February 27, 2016
#unfairandlovely: lankans, bangladeshis, s. indians who never fit hegemonic n.indian + colonized concepts of beauty pic.twitter.com/8KkYf008wL
— Ushka (Thanu) (@ty_ushka) March 9, 2016
when I think of full range of humanity's color, its a bit absurd that my skin is considered dark #unfairandlovely pic.twitter.com/8ywzStTURv
— YaliniDream (@yalinidream) March 8, 2016
I'm #brown or bust. Love ur skin, ur hair, all of it. #brownandunbothered #unfairandlovely #stayunfair pic.twitter.com/UTqNbyw4mO
— Sangeetha (@fallenvirgo) February 29, 2016
#unfairandlovely take a stand against colourism and appreciate your skin colour, you're all beautiful pic.twitter.com/wfdw8KQj81
— naks (@zaIahees) February 28, 2016
when people pick on girls w/darker skin but fail to realize our glo provides light for this society #UNFAIRANDLOVELY pic.twitter.com/5U6qgUwu56
— Tina Elaine (@sipstina) February 28, 2016
Fair and Lovely is a scourge on Earth. #UnfairAndLovely (also let's talk intersectionality while we're here) pic.twitter.com/N5J60h6zG9
— Creatrix Tiara (@creatrixtiara) February 28, 2016
No matter what shade of brown you are, you're beautiful. S/O to the #UNFAIRANDLOVELY! I love myself. pic.twitter.com/7oppsjjJFl
— Davika (@DavikaStaar) February 28, 2016
I was always told it was better to be lighter, but no this is my skin and I love it #unfairandlovely pic.twitter.com/R3Cr8c3TAD
— S. Casanova (@LuchadorChris) February 27, 2016
#unfairandlovely cuz our stories and experiences of xenophobia, colorism, and racism matter #Dark&Proud #SouthAsian pic.twitter.com/DbeyaDukpL
— Meet Kapadia (@MeetKapadia12) February 27, 2016
I'm always told to stay out of the sun so I don't get "kalo." Screw that. I love all my browns. #unfairandlovely pic.twitter.com/svU9nzDPlZ
— Suleikha Snyder (@suleikhasnyder) February 27, 2016
Shamelessly reposting for the #UnfairAndLovely tag because I've learned to love & accept the color of my skin. pic.twitter.com/9N7Ece75fT
— Sunshine™ (@gopikashine) February 26, 2016