Lupita Nyong’o shares why she wrote a children’s book

Lupita Nyong’o’s first children’s book, titled Sulwe is set to hit the shelves!

In the run-up to the release of the book, scheduled for the 15th of October 2019, the Oscar-winning actress has shared the inspiration behind writing the book.

Alongside a nostalgic photo of a 5-year-old Lupita, which she shared on Tuesday, 1st October 2019, the actress reveals that memories of a childhood spent reading books based on “people who looked nothing like me” inspired her to write the book. “I wanted to hold up a mirror for her,” says she in reference to her childhood self.

Lupita likened her then-reading experience to a window – a means of developing “empathy and an understanding of the wider world.” She contrasts that feeling to “mirrors (that) help us develop our sense of self, and our understanding of our own world.” And that, we believe, is what she meant by wanting to “hold a mirror” for her.

For Lupita, Sulwe was written, especially, with “dark-skinned” children in mind, “to see themselves reflected immediately, and it is a window for all the others to cherish peering into.”

And it would also seem that Lupita’s objective was for young black children to appreciate their skin colour even as they live in a society that promotes “the sentiment that lighter is brighter.”

While expressing regret for not having encountered black skin in “beautiful light” while growing up, “[T]his book is my dream come true for kids … today,” she says.

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