Lupita Nyong’o just announced her first book, “Sulwe,” and we couldn’t be more excited. According to her Instagram page, the book is focused on helping children love the skin they’re in.
As someone who once struggled to accept and appreciate her dark skin, it is an important message that Nyong’o can share from firsthand experience.
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In 2014, during her acceptance speech for best breakout performance at Essence magazine’s seventh annual Black Women in Hollywood luncheon, Nyong’o talked about how she used to pray to God to “wake up lighter skinned.” In fact it wasn’t until she saw supermodel, Alek Wek, and the admiration people had for her in mainstream media that she began to embrace her beauty (hashtag representation matters).
With her debut book, she’ll encourage other kids (and adults) to do the same.
To add to the Black Girl Magic, “Sulwe,” which means Star, comes to life through images illustrated by New York Times best-seller Vashti Harrison.
“Sulwe” releases October 1st and is available for pre-order here.