I have never worn sunscreen on my face up until this year. I have always thought its use on the face was only meant for Caucasians. The damage in their skin was always evident. I guess I felt that brown or black skin was strong enough to withstand the damage of sunrays.
Well-worn phrases like ‘black don’t crack’ reinforce this incorrect notion. The biggest problem associated with the sun was racialized in my upbringing. I heard that children shouldn’t play in sun because it would make their skin darker, as opposed to how damaging the sun’s rays could be for our skin.
I suppose many didn’t see it as something that could be potentially damaging for the skin because the effects weren’t instantaneous. Using sunscreen has always felt like a betrayal of my identity and for this reason primarily, I deliberately stayed away from it
