Yellow Bone

This piece is called “Yellow Bone”. *The term “Yellow Bone” has

gained popularity amongst (young) black people and it is used in

everyday conversation when referring to light skin black people. This

term seems to appear everywhere, on Instagram, Twitter, and

Facebook used to describe people and also used as a hashtag. The

term yellow bone is used as a supposedly positive description and

reference to black people who have light skin.

This term is used heavily in hip-hop when referring to a ‘desirable’

woman or in rap artists’ names like ‘Lightskin Keisha’, Pretty Yellow,

Latto (formerly **Mulatto), and the list can go on.

*This term is rooted in White supremacy. This term especially given to

or used by a Black woman is a compliment as it gives them either

subconsciously or consciously proximity to ‘whiteness’. It reveals how

racism as a system of oppression can function without white people

present because black people have been thoroughly schooled on how

to be racist to each other. Black people who use the term yellow bone

have internalized white supremacy notions of beauty.

This piece was a hodge-podge inspired by Black women, specifically

in the music industry who have changed this physical appearance

either by surgery, makeup, or hair extensions to give them the illusion

of ‘desirability’. The hair on this piece is a veil. The blonde extensions

on top cover the afro-textured hair on the bottom (like how a weave is

usually done as a protective style in most cases, a shield for others).

The ‘last’ phenotypical resemblance of a Black woman is the hair.

Everything else is being modified to fit into a white supremacist gaze.

*Source queerconsciousness.com, White Supremacist Roots of “Yellow Bone” by

Lwando Scott.

**This term is derogatory hence why she changed it to a more marketable name

Mixed media, magazine collage, acrylic paint, (faux) afro hair, synthetic blonde hair, faux lashes, heavy-weight paper, faux lashes