Okay I’m not gonna lie to you, I’m not a fan of reality television. Yeah when I was younger I would watch shows like “Flavor of Love” or “For the Love of Ray J”, but as the years went by I started to lose all interest in it. I don’t know I just like the concept of reality shows just started to get dumb and it was the same format over and over again. But there’s one reality show that’s caught my eye for the right reasons: “Love and Hip Hop Miami”. After looking past all the drama and fighting there’s one person on that show that has made me a instant fan and her name is Amara La Negra.
Amara La Negra is Afro Latina singer on the show who wants to take her career to the next level and make an impact in Latin music. I’m going to be honest I’ve never really listened to her music before. But her personality and what she talks about is what makes me a fan of her. There was an episode she met up with a Latin music producer to discuss her music. Since Amara is a dark skinned Latina with an afro the producer told her that she didn’t have the right “look” that the Latin music industry was looking for just because of her dark skin and natural hair. Ever since that encounter Amara has been making it known on the show the struggles of being a dark skin Latina in the Latin world. Now like I said I never really listened to any of her music, but the reason I like her on the show is because she’s bringing a awareness to a problem that has been happening for a long time in the music industry: colorism.
Amara experience on the show is not only proving that colorism affects every race, but it also can have an effect on how we look at artists in music. Even though a lot of big time executives in music don’t say it, having a certain look does play a role in how far you’re career can go. A lot of times when female singers are getting signed, music executives look at the image they want that artist to sell so they can attract a mainstream (white) audience. This has never been nothing entertainment industry. Especially when it comes to women of color. The music industry has been casting women of a lighter complexion from Lena Horne and Eartha Kitt to Beyonce and Alicia Keys. Not saying that dark skin women can’t rise to fame, but there are more obstacles for them to face if they want to reach mainstream stardom.
When I was younger I would think that colorism was only something that affected the black community when it came to light skin and dark skin. But as I got older I started to realize colorism is something that affects every race. If you look at any race/ethnicity, having darker skin is seen as a “bad” thing in every culture whether its through Black, Latina, or Asian. The reason behind that is because for centuries the standard of beauty always revolved around a white person so obviously anything opposite of that was seen as “unattractive”.
With that being said I’m Amara La Negra is using her platform to address colorism. She not only is bringing attention to a serious problem in music but also is encouraging all women of darker skin to embrace there dark skin and with confidence. So Amara La Negra, if you ever get a chance to read this, I just want you to know: You the real M.V.P (Kevin Durant voice). Peace.
