#whatsyourskinstory

My name is Shivani Persad. I was born in Trinidad and Tobago, a beautiful island in the West Indies. When I was four my family and I moved to Canada. As I was growing up there were things that were made very clear to me: you should be a good person, university is a must, we’d prefer if you were a doctor or a lawyer, oh and dark skin is NOT beautiful; it’s actually pretty worthless. When I became a model, these skin stereotypes were subtly perpetuated. There was almost no representation of Indian girls in North American fashion, and the ones that were here were mostly very light skinned. Finally the industry is slowly changing, but we still have a lot of work to do. So, I’m making it my mission to make it happen. I want to be an activist for dark skinned women and bring awareness to the issues we face. I’m Shivani and that’s my skin story. #whatsyourskinstory #ilovemybrownskin #unfairandlovely #ownyourcolour (at New York, New York)

Yesterday I went to an amazing talk with @cameronrussell - it was all about taking risks and showing models how to use our platforms for activism. It was really inspiring and motivated me to work even harder for representation of coloured women in media. -- As a woman of colour, you notice certain things in this industry. You notice how many girls that look like you are in a magazine. You notice when you’re the token ethnic girl in a commercial, campaign or advertisement. You notice when the majority of brown girls in media have light skin. You notice. So what do you do? You push: you push forward for representation and you work hard to help others do the same. You say something: you tell people how important and beautiful we are, and that we deserve to be recognized. Make sure they know – you are #brownandbadass. What’s your skin story? #whatsyourskinstory #ilovemybrownskin #unfairandlovely #ownyourcolour

Sometimes I walk into a casting and see about 30 white girls, 5 black girls, 3 Asian girls, and me. I’m the only brown/Indian girl. Out of almost 40 girls, there’s one Indian girl casting for this job. It’s this weird paradox where we’re happy to work a lot but at the same time frustrated that there isn’t enough representation. So what do we do? We work, we hustle and encourage our fellow brown girls to step up. We need to put ourselves out there, because no one is going to do it for us. Believe in your cause, believe in your skin, and believe in your worth. I want us all to be recognized and represented. How can you make it happen? #whatsyourskinstory #ilovemybrownskin #unfairandlovely #ownyourcolour

It’s funny how it’s still my immediate reaction. Oh shoot I’m in the sun; better find shade before I get too dark. Why? Why do I still think like that? Because every time I played in the sun when I was little, my mum or my aunts would say: Hey! Make sure you don’t play out there too long or you’ll get dark! Imagine instilling that thought into a little girl’s mind so much that she still thinks it 20 years later. This all stems from the idea that dark skin = ugly/undesirable/unattractive/less important. What’s important now is for us not to instill these thoughts in our sisters, younger friends, daughters and cousins. It doesn’t matter what shade your skin is – you are beautiful. Your dark skin is deep and dimensional, you are important, you are special and your skin tells a story. #whatsyourskinstory #ilovemybrownskin #unfairandlovely #ownyourcolour