This newsletter highlights the nuanced ways in which different cultures describe skin color and identity, focusing particularly on Blackness. It opens with the observation that many of the team members at Long Wave share a diverse array of cultural backgrounds, leading to rich conversations about identity.
In Sudan, for example, instead of a single term for “Black,” various descriptors based on color—like “green,” “yellow,” and “wheat”—carry deep cultural significance, sometimes indicating aesthetics or ethnic features rather than merely skin tone. This complexity is echoed in Ghana, where terms like “Ameyibɔ” or “Yibɔɔ” denote beauty in darker skin, while lighter skin is often labeled with terms that have cultural connotations tied to class and desirability.
Brazil’s staggering variety of skin color descriptors, with as many as 136 terms, reflects its own complex racial history and the post-abolition quest for identity. This richness contrasts sharply with places where Black people are a minority and often reduced to the singular term “Black,” as seen in the U.S. Here, racial identity is often defined politically and socially rather than culturally, influenced by historical constructs like the “one-drop rule.”
Throughout the newsletter, there’s an emphasis on the need to describe Blackness on its own terms, recognizing that identity is shaped by varied cultural lenses rather than solely by Western paradigms. The authors encourage readers to reflect on their culturally specific descriptors and to engage in the dialogue.
In summary, the piece conveys that understanding Blackness is not monolithic and is deeply informed by localized histories and languages, emphasizing a wider spectrum of identities that exist beyond oppressive narratives.
