Lupita Nyong’o has added published author to her already impressive list of accomplishments. Her new children’s picture book “Sulwe” meaning Star in Kenyan is set to be released on the 15th of October and is about colourism, self-esteem, and learning that true beauty comes from within. To further buttress the aim of the 48-page book, the Kenyan star let everyone know why she wrote the book via an Instagram post recently.
Sharing a photo of her 5-year-old self, Lupita spoke about how her inspiration for the book came from reading books as a child with the characters not looking anything like her. She wrote:
This is 5-year-old me. I reflected on this little girl’s feelings and fantasies when I decided to write my children’s book, #Sulwe. With this book, I wanted to hold up a mirror for her. Here’s why:
As a little girl reading, I had all of these windows into the lives of people who looked nothing like me, chances to look into their worlds, but I didn’t have any mirrors. While windows help us develop empathy and an understanding of the wider world, mirrors help us develop our sense of self, and our understanding of our own world. They ground us in our body and our experiences.
#Sulwe holds up a mirror for dark-skinned children especially, to see themselves reflected immediately, and it is a window for all the others to cherish peering into.
Colorism, society’s preference for lighter skin, is alive and well. It’s not just a prejudice reserved for places with a largely white population. Throughout the world, even in Kenya, even today, there is a popular sentiment that lighter is brighter.
I imagined what it would have been like for this little girl to turn the pages of her picture books and see more dark skin in a beautiful light. This book is my dream come true for kids like her today. #Sulwe arrives October 15. ✨ Link in bio to pre-order.
#NationalBookMonth #BrightnessIsJustWhoYouAre