Dark is divine

I first met Fatima Lodhi at one of Rotaract International’s events, an organisation we both are a part of. Soft-spoken and mild-tempered to the core, she’s as easy-going as you can expect a person to be. However, it’s only when Fatima takes to the stage to speak about her work that all her ambition and passion for the cause she believes in comes out in the open. Being the flag-bearer of the first anti-colorism campaign of Pakistan, Fatima Lodhi is a person to watch out for. I thought highlighting her work for Us magazine would do good, both to her campaign and the readers, so I interviewed her. Here it goes …

Muhammad Asif Nawaz (AN): To start with, Fatima, tell Us about yourself …

Fatima Lodhi (FL): I was born in Karachi, and studied in a convent school till 8th         grade. Then I moved to Islamabad with my family. I’m now pursuing Masters in Philosophy. I joined the world of activism back in 2009 and for more than five years, I have been advocating for the rights of women with disabilities. I am also an “Anti-colorism & Diversity Advocate”. I am, luckily, the first Pakistani and the youngest Asian who has taken this bold stand and has challenged the unrealistic standards of beauty that have been set by the society and propagated by the media. As Pakistan’s first anti-colorism advocate and founder of “Dark is Divine”, the first anti-colorism campaign from Pakistan, I have been boldly championing the “Dark” color and have also been to different places with the message of celebrating diversity.

AN: That’s impressive! How about shedding more light on your achievements?

FL: Due to my contributions for women empowerment, I received the “Woman of Excellence” award in 2014, for my efforts and work in securing the basic social rights for women with disabilities and also those without disabilities. For my efforts towards an inclusive and accommodating society, where respect for all is a must, I was awarded “Young Rising Woman Leader” award in 2015. I have been campaigning relentlessly against “Colorism” and the “Perfect Body Image” concept and playing my part as an active player trying to bolster up women on the very grass roots of my country, as well as globally. In 2014, I was also declared “Woman of the Week” by a UK-based radio. I’m also a motivational speaker who has gotten the privilege to become a TEDx speaker, thrice, including TEDx Sialkot, TEDxLUMS and TEDxUniversityOfGujrat and was also recently invited to speak at a TEDx event in Delhi, India.

AN: You started your campaign ‘Dark is Divine’ about two years ago, this being the first ‘anti-colorism’ campaign of Pakistan. What prompted you to start this? Were there any personal experiences or did the idea spring out of your social awareness?

FL: Well, different incidents prompted me to start the anti-colorism campaign. The school that I studied at had scores of fair-skinned girls, many of whom would discriminate against their dark-skinned fellows on the basis of different skin colour. Also, I witnessed many girls being evaluated on the basis of the colour of their skins in their daily lives. Majority of these girls were less social as compared to those with white skins because of the fear of being harassed by the people in their circle. Even I can recall being called different rude names because of my dark skin. Also, I was once nominated for a “Make-over Required” category at school. All this was done by my light-skinned school fellows, just to make me feel bad. Light skin/white skin is considered the ambassador of beauty since ages. Across the world, in different regions like Asia and Africa, there is a huge fairness craze. We all get to see the advertisements of fairness creams on every single TV channel which give out the message that if you are light-skinned you are bold and beautiful and if you are dark, you end up being nowhere. Such discriminatory advertisements have polluted our minds and have created the thinking that fair-skinned persons are way better than the dark-skinned ones.

AN: How was the experience of getting it started? Were you supported by those around you? Especially, share with us the ordeals of starting something so big at such a young age…

I remember taking my ideas of fighting “Colorism” and “Body Image Anxiety” to different seminars, talks and panel discussions being organized by renowned NGOs, who are working for women empowerment and promoting equality, but unfortunately the response I used to get was very upsetting. I was always told that “Colorism” isn’t a big issue and it’s something that’s been there since ages and people are used to it. So, my idea was always rejected. Then, in 2013, I finally decided to launch it through a proper platform, where I, along with like-minded people, could fight colorism and raise our voices against the unrealistic standards of beauty that have been set by our very own society and its people. When I launched it, many of my friends were not in favour of this campaign. In the beginning, I had to face a lot of opposition and criticism. People knew that colorism is being practiced in our society but they were always ignorant towards this fact. Coming up with the idea of this anti-colorism campaign in Pakistan was not actually a piece of cake.

AN: Do you think things have changed for good, and now people are more receptive towards rejecting the idea of colorism?

FL: Yes, with the passage of time, people have started accepting that colorism exists, and things are definitely changing for the better. But still, more powerful advocacy is needed for eradicating colorism from the roots.

AN: Your campaign has gone international. Tell Us more about that. How many countries is it in and how has the response been?

FL: I remember starting off with a small talk in Islamabad back in 2013, and now by the grace of Allah, we have reached 25 countries in two years’ time span. Luckily, the response has been tremendous. It’s actually getting a lot of exposure and with the passage of time, people have started accepting that Colorism does exist and we seriously need to get independence from the clutches of Colorism.

AN: Do you think colorism is more of a South-Asian issue? Has the Western World actually moved beyond the facade of colours or is it just as bad as us when it comes to this issue?

FL: Colorism is a global issue and it’s not only confined to Pakistan or South Asia only; it’s found in the many parts of Asia and Africa, too. The western world has improved a little when it comes to Colorism, but this disease is still found in some major parts of the western world as well.

AN: As you often point out regarding fairness creams, a number of well-established celebrities have been endorsing fairness products throughout South Asia. What’s your take on it? Do you think it’s immoral on their part, or are they just selling something which sells?

FL: I find many contributors to this issue: the companies, the advertisers, the marketers, and mostly the celebrities endorsing such brands are responsible for the unrealistic definition of beauty. Celebrities are endorsing it just for the sake of money, and if they are ever asked to associate themselves with these fairness products in reality, I believe they never would. Celebrities doing such advertisements are actually the marketing world’s promising features, just to capture the attention and to penetrate through the minds of the viewers who blindly idolize these celebrities.

AN: Nandita Das, with a similar campaign in India, once said that so obsessed are we with fairness that even the darker actresses in Bollywood have been turning whiter with time. Do you think that even now platforms as big as film industries are shying away from accepting darker skin tones?

FL: I second Nandita’s statement regarding the obsession with fairness. Media has set very biased standards of beauty; it’s associated with light/white skin tone and therefore, different platforms like film industries are still shying away from accepting the darker skin tones.

AN: Where do you see your campaign going from here? We know you hold trainings at school and college campuses to raise awareness. Tell us about that and also about the future plans you have for the campaign…

FL: Since colorism is such an ingrained issue, it is so deep-rooted that at least a generation long effort needs to be put in to eradicate it. Therefore, we are still in the awareness phase. The first step towards curing it is to accept that Colorism exists, and for that we need to come out of the denial phase. By approaching different schools’ management, currently we are conducting training of teachers across India and Pakistan along with the media and holding literacy sessions for the school going kids. One of our future plans is to introduce a curriculum that we are currently working on, in different schools across the Asian region!

AN: How about collaborating with more established anti-colorism campaigns from other countries and working with them?

FL: We are already working in collaboration with different well established anti-colorism forums and have also arranged several sessions with them!

AN: How do people become a part of ‘Dark is Divine?’ What are the ways they can support/be a part of it? Are there memberships given? Also, share with Us the official contact details of Dark is Divine for those interested.

FL: Everyone is more than welcome to become part of Pakistan’s first global anti-colorism campaign “Dark is Divine”. By becoming our ambassadors of Redefining Beauty, you can bring a change in your respective communities, schools or colleges. Currently we have our ambassadors in 25 countries who are actively participating by conducting awareness drives. We can be contacted via Facebook @  www.facebook.com/darkisdivine     or email us @ darkisdivine.pk@gmail.com

AN: Any message for the readers of Us?

FL: Let’s join hands to work towards a society where respect for all is a must; a society which is way more accommodating and believes in celebrating diversity.