Sammy Sosa & black denial in the DR

A friend and fellow islandista brought our attention to this article from the Miami Herald from back in 2007.

And ... wow!

It certainly gives a lot of perspective on Sammy Sosa's little 'skin rejuvenation' exercise.

We had heard that 'shadeism' was bad in the DR but we did not know it was as bad as all this.

Some excerpts from the piece:

And to many in the Dominican Republic, to look pretty is to look less black.

Dominican hairdressers are internationally known for the best hair-straightening techniques. Store shelves are lined with rows of skin whiteners, hair relaxers and extensions.

Racial identification here is thorny and complex, defined not so much by skin color but by the texture of your hair, the width of your nose and even the depth of your pocket. The richer, the "whiter." And, experts say, it is fueled by a rejection of anything black.

"I always associated black with ugly. I was too dark and didn't have nice hair," said Catherine de la Rosa, a dark-skinned Dominican-American college student spending a semester here. "With time passing, I see I'm not black. I'm Latina.

Apparently, part of this goes back to the period that the Dominican Republic was colonised by Haiti.

Sammy Sosa admits to bleaching

Wow, Sammy Sosa is sounding more and more confused by the day.

He has finally admitted to what we all knew - that he is bleaching his skin.

In an interview on Primer Impacto, a programme on the Spanish-language network Univision, Sammy said:

"It's a bleaching cream that I apply before going to bed and whitens my skin some.

It's a cream that I have, that I use to soften [my skin], but has bleached me some. I'm not a racist, I live my life happily.I want people to calm down and realize that I didn't do any of this with mal intentions."

Asked about the obvious Michael Jackson comparison, Sammy somehow doesn't see the connection, saying:

"What happened was that I had been using the cream for a long time and that, combined with the bright TV lights, made my face look whiter than it really is. I don't think I look like Michael Jackson."

He says that his skin bleaching is a completely different kettle of fish.

"I respect him very much and may God keep him in his glory, but this is not the case with me.

I'm truly shocked that this has gotten so big. This has resonated more than the actual [Latin] Grammys."

Oh, and if that was not enough for you, he has said that he plans to market the "miracle cream" which can only be bought in Europe.

"I'm going to market it, I'm a businessman."

Lawd help us.

Now Sammy Sosa's bleaching too?

Well a whaddis fadda?!

Just yesterday we blasted the eediat gal Lisa Hype over her song Proud a mi Bleaching.

At least she owned up to it openly.

[caption id="attachment_1717" align="alignright" width="280" caption="Photo credit: Exposay.com/PRN photos"][/caption]

However, Major League batter Sammy Sosa wants us to believe that he is undergoing a "rejuvenation process for his skin" and that is why he was photographed at two different events last week looking like a duppy.

After the pictures came out of Dominican Republic-born Sammy last week and people (naturally) asked what in the Little Kim, bleach face, Nadinola-rubbing hell is going on, a former Cubs employee, Rebecca Polihronis, the former Cubs Care/Community relations manager, jumped to his defence... and of course, promptly made the whole situation more absurd.

From the Chicago Tribune:

He is going through a rejuvenation process for his skin (read: bleaching)," Polihronis said. "Women have it all of the time. He was surprised he came out looking so white. I thought it was a body double. Part of (the photo appearance) is just the lighting.

"He is in the middle of doing a cleansing process to his skin (as in cleansing it of melanin?). The picture is deceiving. He said, 'If you saw me in person, you would be surprised. When you see me in person, it is not going to seem like the picture.'

"People who saw him in person did not react the same way. He can't believe it is such a big deal."

Polihronis, the former Cubs Care/Community Relations manager for the team, said Sosa told her he has used moisturizing treatment (like Ambi or Fair & White?) at night on his face.

"He has always been concerned with the way he looks (you mean black?)," she said. "Probably just bad timing going to an awards show."

"He was doing a dermatological skin process after years and years (of playing baseball) in the sun," Polihronis said. "It did come out looking weird (in the picture)."

You know what we at islandista have to say to this - EH! Especially when you take a look at the photo below of how he looked back in 2005.