Don't Play in the Sun: One Woman's Journey Through the Color Complex

This book has made it on my list of must-reads for my children and must-haves in my library. It is a strikingly impressive work. As a middle-aged white man, I can only offer that I learned a lot about the author's culture (and was revealed a lot about mine) but put aside completely the topic of the book for a moment...it was one of the most beautifully written things I have ever read. I believe Marita Golden could write about the dynamics of drying paint and hold my undivided attention. Her skill as a writer alone makes the book a more than worthwhile read.

Marita Golden, as always, writes in an elegant, understated fashion...and this time brings to the fore what I and many African women consider to be the #1 problem facing our people today...the much denied hatred for dark skinned people, and in particular--FEMALES--who are "authentically" black. I didn't, however, give the book five stars for tackling such an important subject. I gave it 5 stars for the author's subtle handling of YEARS of heartbreak, disappointment and "forced coping". I gave the book five stars, because Golden so carefully layers and allows her own personal beauty to spotlight the fact that color prejudice is both insidious and cancerous. Amazingly, Golden does this without rage or reciprocal hate. By hating the darkest of black women...we are essentially proving that we ourselves have become White Supremacists who hate the womb of our beginning and ALL BLACK PEOPLE. What could be more important for black people in 2004 to wrap their minds around? I myself come from Sudan and was put up for adoption at age 8 by my Egyptian grandmother...because she felt that my skin color was "too dark" for me to be included in my father's Egyptian family after he and my mother were murdered for protesting slavery in SUDAN. I am the child of a "charcoal colored" African beauty and an Arab father. Naturally, the trauma of such a rejection and such an event cannot be conveyed with mere words, but as a mother of 2 young boys who will someday be grown black men...I am grateful to Marita Golden for providing yet another powerful and important art work (to go along with Morrison's BLUEST EYE and my own LONG TRAIN TO THE REDEEMING SIN) that can aid us all in the dismantling of this troubling and horrific insanity through which white supremacy continues to hack away the limbs of our sacred being. Black is not only Beautiful--Black is the genesis of humanity and deserves to exist. And Marita Golden continues to be a lush, velvety voice in the static, sometimes frivalous NEW world of black literature. I highly recommend this book, and as always...I so deeply love Golden's care, class and intelligence. Kola Boof (...)

The color complex has been a problem with African-Americans since the days of slavery, where the some of the lighter sons and daughters of slave owners were given preferential treatment over darker ones. In Marita Golden's (Migrations of the Heart) new memoir, "Don't Play in the Sun," she examines the intricacies of what it means to have grown up a dark-skinned African-American woman where women of lighter complexion were favored. The book commences with snippets of Golden's experiences dealing with color including the recollection of mother's stark warnings not to play in the sun or else she will have to get a light-skinned husband for the sake of her children. The statement causes the young Golden to question her beauty and self-worth based on skin tone and hair texture throughout her entire life. Witnessing intra-racial preference influences her decision not to American University instead of Howard because of the favoritism shown towards lighter-skinned Blacks at the all-Black school and influences how she views the portrayal of dark-skinned women on television. The author also reminds the reader that light-skinned women are subjected to discrimination as well, particularly objectification and sexism. Golden recalls her world travels in Nigeria where many women surprisingly use skin-lightening creams to attract men, Cuba, where darker-skinned denizens hold menial jobs as maids, doormen, and even prostitutes while their lighter-skinned neighbors hold more visible, success-oriented positions, and Belgium, where her romance with a European man was, for the most part, socially accepted. The book not only serves as an intriguing memoir but also a critique on popular culture, social norms, and political practices throughout the world. Golden offers her opinion on the popular Hip-Hop videos, the Grammy awards, the works of Zora Neale Hurston, and much more. People of all colors and gender should be able to find something enlightening and didactic about "Don't Play in the Sun." Golden has penned a wonderful, succinct, page-turner that examines the complex relationship between lighter skinned and darker skinned people. One can only hope that the reader will take Golden's life lessons to heart and grow from them. Emanuel Carpenter [...]

We often read of "garbage messages" that are universal to all children, or, as John Bradshaw labels as "shame-based messages."And in this book, by Marita Golden, we read how those of color pass on messages to their children, that from a child's view is an attack. From an adult view, it is both a warning of how one is measured by those in power, and it is something that is blindly passed on - not questioned, just accepted as fact, much like the unspoken messages that generation after generation mothers pass on to their daughters about their limitations.I selected this book because I read, years ago, "Migration of the Heart," and "Skin Deep," by Ms. Golden. And I continue to be moved by her written messages. She speaks to your soul!As a child, I do remember conflicting messages of, "Go outside and play," shortly followed by, "If you stay in the sun too long you will be too black.""Too black" in the 60's, during the Civil Rights Movement - at times when we were saying, "Say it loud. I'm black and I'm proud?"Yes. It was a statement unconsciously spoken. And it continues to be spoken, whites worry about the dangers of tanning salons, and blacks search for ways to "blend in."Another reason why I was drawn to this book is that Ms. Golden uses Zora Neale Hurston's (read "Their Eyes Were Watching God," and her other books) messages from the first page, throught the book, to encourage change.Thank you Ms. Golden, for telling your story, and for believing in your purpose, and for contributing to race relations being an inside job.

Marita Golden, as always, continues to write in an elegant, understated fashion...and this time brings to the fore what I and many African women consider to be the #1 problem facing our people today...the much denied hatred for dark skinned people, and in particular--FEMALES--who are "authentically" black.I didn't, however, give the book five stars for tackling such an important subject. I gave it 5 stars for the author's subtle handling of YEARS of heartbreak, disappointment and "forced coping". I gave the book five stars, because Golden so carefully layers and allows her own personal beauty to spotlight the fact that color prejudice is both insidious and cancerous. Amazingly, Golden does this without rage and reciprical hate.By hating the darkest of black women...we are essentially proving that we ourselves are White Supremacists who hate the womb of our beginning and ALL BLACK PEOPLE. What could be more important for black people in 2004 to wrap their minds around?I myself come from Sudan and was put up for adoption at age 8 by my Egyptian grandmother...because she felt that my skin color was "too dark" for me to be included in my father's Egyptian family after he and my mother were murdered for protesting slavery in SUDAN. I am the child of a "charcoal colored" African beauty and an Arab father.Naturally, the trauma of such a rejection and such an event cannot be conveyed with mere words, but as a mother of 2 young boys who will someday be grown black men...I am grateful to Marita Golden for providing yet another powerful and important art work (to go along with Morrison's BLUEST EYE and my own LONG TRAIN TO THE REDEEMING SIN) that can aid us all in the dismantling of this troubling and horrific insanity through which white supremacy continues to hack away the limbs of our sacred being.Black is not only Beautiful--Black is the genesis of humanity and deserves to exist. And Marita Golden continues to be a lush, velvety voice in the static, sometimes frivalous NEW world of black literature. I highly recommend this book, and as always...I so deeply love Golden's care, class and intelligence.Kola Boof, Author of "Long Train to the Redeeming Sin: Stories About African Women".