My name’s Jasmin Thana. I started this blog out of pure desperation. I wasn’t ex

My name’s Jasmin Thana. I started this blog out of pure desperation. I wasn’t expecting a response, much less the one that’s been and continues to be received with an open & grateful heart. I honestly was excitedly overwhelmed & didn’t know how to respond.

Admittedly, I felt under pressure to post continuously that I wasn’t taking pause to reflect. I received reflections of a consistent criticism that I completely agreed with. The criticisms caused me to finally pause. When I did, I needed to figure out how to move forward with intention that felt good for me. While posts on here have slowed down, I have been having heart and mind opening conversations with those I’ve met on via this blog and those I know in real life. Gratefully, because of these conversations, I now remember my ability to say no and to have boundaries to hold this space for what my intentions are. 

I messed up a lot on the first week. I shared space on this blog with South Asian people who may have stories of hurt from colorism, but who aren’t dark-skinned. In looking back, I also didn’t properly credit the names of the people who were submitting. This is partly from feeling overwhelmed & partly not understanding Tumblr’s functions properly, but it was never intentional. There are so many people on here that I did not even know of. I am eternally grateful for the support in submitting personal & public figures’ images and stories to fill these pages with dark-skinned South Asians & Indo-Caribbeans. I promise from here on out that I will hold my boundaries to keep this space for dark-skinned people who are South Asian, those of the diaspora and Indo-Caribbeans. I also promise to properly document credit for all submissions. 

I know there’s a need for a space beyond South Asians to speak of colorism and to share tools of resiliency and resistance. I was sitting with this idea for weeks (and this site is less than a month and a half old). I have finally concluded that I don’t have the space to hold that right now. If someone reading this does want to hold that space, I have lots of stuff that’s been contributed but unpublished as it is not of/by a dark-skinned South Asian/Indo-Caribbean. I will gladly share all with you. Please contact me at [email protected]

I have also heard requests to expand through social media with Facebook and Twitter. I have started both and invite you to like/follow if you’re a part of those mediums. Facebook = http://www.facebook.com/darklovelyandsouthasian & Twitter = https://twitter.com/DarkLovelyandSA Right now both will have links to posts & may expand after I land back in the States in December. Until then, my access to the internet is limited and will just be automatic updates via Tumblr.

I hope that these steps will make this site a safer space for those that are dark-skinned people of South Asia, the diaspora and Indo-Caribbeans to share their stories of resiliency and resistance in the face of colorism. I want to cultivate a space that moves beyond the hurt of colorism. Our skin is our largest organ in our body. If we hate our skin, imagine what it does to our minds, hearts and spirits. This is a space for dark-skinned South Asians, but I hope in centering our stories and lifting up positive images of us it creates ripples of self-love and self-acceptance for people of all shades. We must - individually and collectively - love ourselves deeply and fully. There’s no other choice. May this be one tool among many for us to learn to do that.