March to shake perceptions on skin colour

‘SAY No To Skin Bleaching and Embrace Dark Skin’, this is the message from the organisers of the #StopSkinBleaching March set to take place on Friday, 26 August.

The march will start at Durban Christian Centre (King Dinuzulu Park) at 12pm to Gugu Dlamini Park (The Workshop, Dr AB Xuma street) at 2.30pm.

The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in partnership with the KZN Department of Health invites the public to stand up for dark skin and participate in the march against harmful skin-lightening creams.

The march forms a part of a landmark campaign to raise awareness on the dangers of skin-lightening creams. The campaign was inspired and initiated by UKZN academic, Professor Ncoza Dlova, a leading dermatologist and researcher who has been championing this cause. In her research, Dlova has found that there is an increasing number of Indian and African women, as well as men, who are using and subsequently experiencing the harmful and irreversible side effects of skin-lightening creams.

Dlova said the youth are pivotal to the success of the campaign. “We want to reach out to the children and educate them at a young age that the best skin is the one that you are born with and Black is beautiful, as well as instill self-love at a younger age. Many young girls and boys want to be ‘yellowbone’ (light-skinned), because they think it is more attractive. So we are saying to them self-made or fake, yellowbone is dangerous and not cool and blackbone is safe and does not crack,” she said.

The campaign is made possible with the support of the Department of Dermatology at the UKZN Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine, the African Womens’ Dermatology Society, for which Dlova stands as President, the Dermatology Society of South Africa, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Cosmetics, Toiletries, and Fragrances Association, UKZN Student Representative Council and the Corporate Sector.

Ngiyazithanda futhi ngiyaziqhenya ngebala lami lemvelo. @ASBA2016 #StopSkinBleaching pic.twitter.com/3I1EXbrLpl

— University of KZN (@UKZN) August 25, 2016

Professor Dlova "Say no to skin bleaching and embrace dark skin." #StopSkinBleaching

— East Coast Radio (@ecr9495) August 25, 2016

#StopSkinBleaching: Join the march in Durban @UKZN https://t.co/bJzQJaiNpV pic.twitter.com/rOx9rcmVr2

— Daily News (@DailyNewsSA) August 26, 2016

The war can only be won if govt bans skin whitening and media stops promoting celebrities with skin lightening products #StopSkinBleaching

— Zohra (@ZOHRATEKE) August 25, 2016

I choose celebrities that don't bleach their skin . @ASBA2016.#StopSkinBleaching pic.twitter.com/5VxGWjH7Gi

— University of KZN (@UKZN) August 22, 2016

All are welcome to participate in the march.