Beyoncé Inspires #BrownSkinGirlChallenge Taking Over Social Media
Last week, Beyoncé dropped the full collection for her executive-produced special soundtrack, The Gift, last Friday (July 19). Aptly titled, the album has continued to grace us one cultural moment after another, from linking up artists of the African diaspora to gifting us another Beyoncé production showcasing Blue Ivy’s vocals. The internet has become entirely besotted with one standout song from the 27-track record, “Brown Skin Girl.”
In the four-minute record, Beyoncé artfully constructs an empowering ode to Black women, particularly women of darker complexions, affirming the beauty of Black skin, as she name drops gorgeously melanated goddesses Naomi Campbell, Kelly Rowland and Lupita Nyong’o.
The anthem has Black women all across the globe feeling proud of their skin. Over the last few days, fans have been flooding social media with photos and selfies of themselves embracing and cherishing their brown skin with the hashtag #BrownSkinGirlChallenge as a reference to the title of song.
Lupita herself was touched by Beyoncé’s shoutout, posting a video of herself dancing along to “Brown Skin Girl,” with her megawatt smile beaming.
“Brown Skin Girl. Thank you @Beyonce for this Gift!! #BrightnessIsJustWhoYouAre,” the award-winning actress wrote in the caption accompanying the video.
Film extraordinaire Ava Duvernay also had nothing but praise for the uplifting song, taking to Twitter to heap on the admiration.
“To me, it doesn’t get much better than this. Brava, Beyoncé. You’ve done a beautiful thing here. I see pride. I see joy. #BrownSkinGirlChallenge,” Ava tweeted alongside dropping her own mini highlight of beautifully melanated actresses she’s had the pleasure of working with, including Oprah, Rutina Wesley and Kylie Bunbury.
The challenge has women reveling in the beauty of their melanated, sun-kissed complexion. Bask in their brown-skinned richness below:
