From music to movies to everyday life, Black Women are mistreated and misrepresented on a pretty high level. There’s a certain narrative that revolves around Black Women and beauty standards that needs to be addressed and changed immediately. Lawrence Lindell is helping push that conversation; his new book, “From Black Boy, With Love” centers around changing the narrative Black boys are taught through their communities and society, so they can express love for Black girls and women.
The book is filled with 24 pages of illustrations, all drawn by Lindell, all of which depict a Black boy stating different quotes of love and admiration for the beauty and other amazing qualities that Black girls and women behold. Lindell, who was born and raised in Compton, stated that the book was a way to help himself as well as his community think and speak of Black women in better terms. He added, “I’m black and my community is full of black and brown women who I love dearly and I wanted to make something for them… we as men have a huge problem with how we talk, treat and think about women.” Lindell works as an art educator for youth and sees first hand how cruel some of the teasing can be. He states that, “the first thing they go for when teasing each other is hair, body shape and skin tone”, and then added an example, “’You ol’ nappy-headed, black-ass charcoal looking girl, with yo ugly fat ass’”. This is exactly the narrative Lindell is working to diminish. Even in good fun at a young age, some of these boys grow up believing that dark skin is ugly or dirty. Change in mindset and perception has to start at a young age and Lindell understands the importance of awareness.
While Lindell states his primary goals were to change the way Black boys and men view Black women and girls, he sees an opportunity for anyone of any nationality to learn from the book. It’s about having respect for all women and not perpetuating a narrative which makes them feel like anything less than the incredible, multitalented individuals that they are.
