Award winning actress Lupita Nyong'o's Sulwe, best-selling book and musical animated film by Netflix bagged daytime Emmy Award on September,1.
Although she was not present to receive the award, the Kenyan Hollywood actress, known for her astounding performance in 12 Years A Slave, expressed joy and gratitude.
Sulwe is a children's fiction book, which encourages them to appreciate and be comfortable about their own skin colour, especially dark complexion.
The book encourages children to stand for what is right as the lead character takes the readers across her desire to lighten her skin.
“Here she is! The Emmy for #Sulwe on #BookmarksNetflix arrived. A huge thank you to the @netflixfamily team, and the brilliant @iammarleydias for making this show possible.” Lupita celebrating the award.
She recalled how she became aware of colourism at the tender age of 5, after relatives complimented her sister's light complexion.
Lupita said it was upon remembering and reflecting on that incident that she got inspired to pen the book years later.
“I was hurt as a child because of my skin complexion. My inspiration for writing the story is to use the wound as a weapon and that the weapon would help to heal my wounds.” she narrated to Kenyan musician Esther Akothee.
Lupita regretted the fact that most of the books she grew up reading never featured dark skin characters, something she says killed her self-esteeem.
The actress' passion for empowering Africans and black people world over is manifested in her recent animation project called Super Sema.
She collaborated with Kukua production company in the project and narrates African stories, featuring dark skin characters.
Besides batling inferiority complex, Super Sema encourages children and girls to be innovative. It airs on a local TV station weekly.
