Speaking up about the racism she suffered in the early days of her tenure in British girl group The Sugababes, London-born Keisha Buchanan has released a revelatory new video on YouTube addressing her traumatic experience. The video, Life as the “Black” Sugababe – My Story, sees the 35-year-old singer recall examples of interviewers expressing prejudiced attitudes, revealing also that the ordeal had led to her undergoing therapy to deal with it.
“I used to think that racism was when someone directly looked at you and called you a racist word,” shes says. “I didn’t realise that there was so many different ways that a person and that people can be racist or prejudiced.” Buchanan reflects elsewhere that the interviews would be framed in such a way as to label her as a “bully,” demonstrating “aggressive” characteristics in such a way as to portray her as the stereotypical “angry black woman.”
Just a teenager when she joined the Sugababes in the late ’90s, Buchanan outlines that the media, “who were leading the wolf pack” at that time, “did severe damage to my confidence… When you feel that much scrutiny over your life, it then leads to depression.”
Exposing the falsity of her representation in popular media, Buchanan announced, “I want people to see me for me, thoughts and all, shadiness and all, bossiness and all. I want people to see me for me and then make a judgement on that, and not … upon the colour of my skin.”
In order to make real change we need to use our influence for GOOD when we are in “those” circles.
I’ve been silent for too long & I’ve seen a lot in my over 20 years in the music industry… My receipts are very long but I won’t name & shame those people… pic.twitter.com/kd6CoMgcU6— Keisha Buchanan (@keisha_buchanan) June 2, 2020
Responding the recent #BlackLivesMatter protests, Buchanan has also been involved in exposing the racism inherent within the music industry. Having reset her profile picture as the Black Power salute, the singer-songwriter’s official Twitter page, @keisha_buchanan, rallies the battle cry that, “In order to make real change we need to use our influence for GOOD.”
Amen to that.
