Dark Girls
By Bill Duke, Shelia P. Moses and Barron Claiborne
4.5/5
()
About this ebook
In the tradition of the New York Times bestselling I Dream a World and Crowns comes this full-color companion volume to the acclaimed NAACP Award–nominated documentary Dark Girls—an inspiring and breathtaking photo book that celebrates dark-skinned women.
Black has never been more beautiful, witnessed by this magnificent collection featuring accomplished dark skinned-women from all walks of life. In Dark Girls, celebrities such as Lupita Nyong'o, Vanessa Williams, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Judge Mablean Ephriam, Brandi and Karli Harvey, and over seventy-five other outstanding women share intimate insights into what their dark skin means to them.
Filled with gorgeous photographs, this thoughtful, sophisticated, alluring, and uplifting collection captures the elegance of dark skin—joyfully showcasing that we truly are beautiful for who we are.
Related to Dark Girls
Related ebooks
Love Is Like You: A Love Poems Collection In 24 Verses (Perfect for Love Poems For Him, Love Poems For Her, Poem Gift, Poem A Day Rhyme Book & Love Verse) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsScribner's Magazine, Volume 26, July 1899 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Muslim Suicide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Invisible Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Unorthodox War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Man of Few Words Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFirst Love Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Social Magus: Tales of MI7, #5 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Love Affairs of an Old Maid Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCampus Conspiracy: A Crime Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ancient Scroll: A Journey of Destiny Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Son Comes Home Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsآنان که با منند بیایند ـ جلد ۳ Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Libya Story: Tales of MI7, #9 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFriendly Fire (A Spider Shepherd Short Story): Spider Shepherd Short Stories, #10 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLove Songs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGenerations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSo L.A. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Coolest People in Books: 250 Anecdotes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Poetry of Edmund Spenser Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFootsteps to Death Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLove, Thy Will Be Done: Tales of Awakening A Wild Heart Vol.2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Sun Also Rises Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeath of a Hero: Fiji Islands Mysteries, #0 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMademoiselle de Scudéri Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSimple Truths About Love: Haiku Poetry Collection Book#2 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Date With Destiny: Short Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Memoirs, My Life: An Autobiography of a Boy Aged 12 Who Left His Village in China to Travel to Fiji in 1950. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhen a Man Comes to Himself Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Photography For You
The iPhone Photography Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bloodbath Nation Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Betty Page Confidential: Featuring Never-Before Seen Photographs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just Kids: An Autobiography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Conscious Creativity: Look, Connect, Create Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Haunted New Orleans: History & Hauntings of the Crescent City Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Extreme Art Nudes: Artistic Erotic Photo Essays Far Outside of the Boudoir Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Book Of Legs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fucked at Birth: Recalibrating the American Dream for the 2020s Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5And Still I Rise: Black America Since MLK Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Let Us Now Praise Famous Men Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Photography for Beginners: The Ultimate Photography Guide for Mastering DSLR Photography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Photography Bible: A Complete Guide for the 21st Century Photographer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Photographer's Guide to Posing: Techniques to Flatter Everyone Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Patterns in Nature: Why the Natural World Looks the Way It Does Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Collins Complete Photography Course Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Erotic Art Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5HOT BLONDE STRIPTEASE: Adult Picture Book & Vintage Erotica Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Digital Photography For Dummies Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Death on the Devil's Teeth: The Strange Murder That Shocked Suburban New Jersey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secrets to Creating Amazing Photos: 83 Composition Tools from the Masters (Photography Book) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Humans of New York: Stories Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rocks and Minerals of The World: Geology for Kids - Minerology and Sedimentology Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Photography 101: The Digital Photography Guide for Beginners Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Photograph Everything: Simple Techniques for Shooting Spectacular Images Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Declutter Your Photo Life: Curating, Preserving, Organizing, and Sharing Your Photos Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPoldark's Cornwall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Dark Girls
2 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Dark Girls - Bill Duke
WORDS FROM BILL DUKE
I came into this world from the warm body of a dark girl. A very dark girl. She is the one I loved most in this world, my dear mother, Ethel Duke. Her husband and my beloved father, William Duke, Sr., was also dark—dark and proud. Every day of my life I think about my parents, who have gone on to glory. I think about their struggles. I think about our struggle as a family. I think about our darkness.
I grew up in upstate New York in the small town of Poughkeepsie. Our darkness was not welcomed. As a child, I lived with my only sibling, Yvonne, in the comfort of my parents’ home and felt loved by them and our extended family. We ate, laughed, and served God together. They made me feel safe.
When I left my parents’ home, people were not kind to me because of the color of my skin. The world showed me hatred not only because I was a black boy, but because I was not light skinned.
I was excited like any first grader would be when I put on my new clothes for the first day of school. Clothes that I am sure my parents spent their last dime to buy for me. I was a normal, happy little boy. I did not know that it mattered that the teacher and most of the students were white.
Stand up and shake each other’s hands,
the teacher instructed the students. Not one person touched my black hands. Not one! Then she asked us to stand and state our names. When it was my turn, I stood, but I could not speak. The fact that no one touched my dark hands had silenced me.
What is your name?
she asked.
Duke,
I managed to say.
Duke. Is Duke your first name or your last name, young man?
No, it is Bill Duke.
Laughter rang across the classroom. On the ceiling. On the walls. My darkness was not welcomed. I sat back down and my normal little world changed. It has never really been the same since then. When you realize others will harm you just because you are not their skin color, life starts to look different.
When my teacher gathered us for lunch, I sat alone. The little white boys were ready to finish the job they had started in the classroom.
‘What’s your name?’
one boy asked another boy, as if I were invisible.
‘My name is Duke,’
his friend said.
‘Is that your first name or your last name?’
‘That’s my last name,’
the boy answered as they all laughed.
Oh, I thought it was n—,
another boy laughed.
No. My name is black n—,
one boy said.
I don’t remember anything else after that. When I was aware of my surroundings again, I was running into the house past my parents. I went into the bathroom, removed all of my new clothes, threw them on the floor, and ran bathwater. I wanted to wash the pain away. I wanted to wash my darkness away. The proud little black boy I used to be was gone.
After my bath I was still black n—
like the white boys called me at school. I remembered how my mother used bleach to make towels and other linens white, so I thought it would turn me white, too. As I put the jug to my lips my mother stopped me.
They called me a n—, Mama,
I whined.
As she removed the bleach that would have killed me from near my lips, she began to cry. She knew. She knew my blackness was not welcomed. My little