We are blessed with naturally tanned skin. This feature has always made us stand out among all the other races. However, not all of us take pride in having this complexion.

For many years now, there has been a misconception created among the minds of the Filipinos. It’s gotten so bad to the point that even as a kid, we were made believe that being fair skinned translates to being pretty, thus having a dark skin tone got us entitled to bullying or being called ugly. And it’s not just a thing of the past. Up until today, we still see individuals discriminate our fellow countrymen because of the society’s beauty standards they fail to meet.

At such a young age, an actress and influencer became a victim of standardized beauty. Being a mixed race from two nations recognized for dark complexion, she was born possessing a tawny, beige skin. During her stay where she attended school for a few years before she settled in California, she felt profoundly affected by the notion implicted into the society.

“Every moment I spent there, I became increasingly more frustrated with the colorism so deeply woven into the culture…the toxic idea that dark skin was ugly made me ashamed and embarrassed of my skin tone,” she said in a Twitter post.

Due to the pressing need to address the issue of colorism, she decided to raise awareness among the public by spearheading the campaign, which is geared towards “challenging the traditionally enforced beauty standards within mainstream Filipino media.”

The movement, which started last October encourages tan-skinned individuals to showcase their beauty by tweeting their favorite selfies and redefine the meaning and understanding of beauty.

“Tan and brown-skinned are made to feel insecure, ashamed, and embarrassed of their skin despite being indigenous to a cluster of tropical islands in the southeast Pacific, where the geography climate make brown skin the norm,” explained Jackson. It was created to empower, reclaim, and redefine what it means to be a Filipino and to celebrate our diversity of color.”

She also highlighted that people must learn to accept their own skin before anything else. This girl, who was first working as a project manager for a dashcam test website, said that social media must be used to spread the cause of reaching out to people.

The campaign then gained popularity from Twitter users, and us residing in different continents across the globe wholeheartedly supported and actively engaged in it. The courage Jackson had garnered and the compassion she had shown to these people paved the way for acceptance and self-love that they missed for so many years of their lives.

“It took me a very long time for me to love my color as it is, and I never want anyone to feel the way that I did,” added Jackson.

Aside from the campaign, Jackson continues to spread the advocacy of loving authenticity through her Youtube channel where she collaborates with other content creators to try and discover different traditions in Asia.

This generation indeed is where we should start to break the norms that continue to let down our image and culture. This is the time to create better ones that would contribute to the betterment of the lives of many through empowerment. And, just like her, we should never be afraid to stand up for what we believe in.