Via Huffington Post:

Monday night, actor and activist Jesse Williams gave a powerful speech at the BET Awards upon receiving the Humanitarian Award, during which he spoke eloquently, passionately, and dare I say — even lovingly to the audience of millions. I have seen hundreds of awards show acceptance speeches and Williams was the first Black man I witnessed stand up and acknowledge the sacrifices of Black women on this type of platform. In fact, through this speech he acknowledged damn near everyone, from “activists,” to “the civil rights attorneys, the struggling parents, the families the teachers, the students, that are realizing that systems built to divide and impoverish us cannot stand if we do.”  He called out the names of those who have been killed by the police and railed against cultural appropriation and exploitation by White media corporations.

Williams’ speech was profound and emblematic of what it means to be “truly woke,” yet for some it wasn’t enough. While many tweeted their adoration for his message, there was a vocal group of people expressing their frustration that Williams — a light-skinned, biracial Black man, was being given center stage as “the face” for the Black Lives Matter movement. While criticizing his appearance, they conveniently ignored that there are plenty of prominent Black folks with darker complexions who haven’t said a damn thing their entire lives about social justice, stars with platforms even bigger than Williams.

Samuel L. Jackson spoke after Williams, but his speech paled in comparison. Now, I love me some Sam-You-El, but let’s be real: he had the same opportunity to speak out against racism and injustice and chose not to do so. While not present at the awards, the iconic actor Denzel Washington, arguably one of the most popular actors of the latter part of the 20th century, has to my knowledge never embraced social justice causes, at least publicly.  He may have played Malcolm X, but it appears Washington does not possess the desire to speak out on these issues. In Hollywood and real life, dark skin does not determine one’s capacity for wokeness any more then having light skin symbolizes one’s complicity with maintaining a racist, White society.

Spoiler alert:  I am a light-skinned Black woman of biracial descent who possesses various privileges — which I didn’t ask for and was born with, like all the other light-skinned folks. As much as I have benefitted from my various privileges, I also have had a hell of a lot of disadvantages that my light skin did nothing to mitigate. In fact, in some cases, the very thing that is/was considered a privilege actually decreased my safety as a Black woman in a White patriarchal society.