Skin bleaching in Jamaica - An unstoppable social virus

Skin colour is typical social hang-up in black communities. But just when think time heals all wounds, things get worse. In the slums of Jamaica skin bleaching is a growing crisis, reported Repeating Islands

"Mikeisha Simpson covers her body in greasy white cream and bundles up in a track suit to avoid the fierce sun of her native Jamaica, but she’s not worried about skin cancer.

The 23-year-old resident of a Kingston ghetto hopes to transform her dark complexion to a cafe-au-lait-color common among Jamaica’s elite and favored by many men in her neighborhood. She believes a fairer skin could be her ticket to a better life. So she spends her meager savings on cheap black-market concoctions that promise to lighten her pigment."

In a new TV-show of Emprezz Mullings the problem of bleaching is discussed. Check out the video below.

Film: “RISE UP” Stories from Jamaica's music underground

Photo: Turbulence "Notorious"
RISE UP is a feature-length documentary which shines a spotlight on Jamaica’s underground music scene by focusing on 3 young artists – Kemoy Lewis, Ice Anastasia (now performing as ‘Juss Ice’) and Turbulance who, when the film was made 7 years ago, was still an ‘upcoming artist’, and who has now become a successful reggae star.

The film is directed by Argentina-born Luciano Blotta and produced by Jamaicans Mark Hart and Carlo ‘Amlak’ Less and premiered on October 27, 2010 in Kingston Jamaica. But the film has already been screened in over 20 countries.





For trailers of the interviews go to video's at www.riseupmovie.com

Read more at the www.jamaicaobserver.com

Read an interesting review on the blog jamediapro