Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o whilst speaking in a recent interview with Vogue magazine recalled how as a teen she was told her skin was ‘too dark to be on TV’
‘No. It didn’t ring true. I just thought, I need to find another way,’ said the Brooklyn-based beauty, who’s a member of one of the darkest-skinned African tribes – Luo.
The discrimination continued while the 12 Years a Slave star attended Massachusetts’ Hampshire College at age 20.
‘I realized that my skin color was making some people see me differently,’ the Mexican-born, Kenyan-raised actress recalled.
‘As Africans, we don’t grow up with a racial identity. We grow up with cultural and ethnic identity before racial identity. I never used the word black as a child. It was never a thing. When was I ever discussing black? Why?’
Now an undisputed fashion icon, Lupita is also a brand ambassador for fashion house Lancôme.