Sosa Takes A Walk on the Lighter Side

Changing one’s skin color is very rare in today’s society. Most often the lightening of skin color is due to the disease vitiligo, a chronic disorder that causes depigmentation of one’s skin. The late entertainer, Michael Jackson suffered from this condition. However, this cannot be said of former baseball superstar Sammy Sosa.

Once known for his epic home run battle with Mark McGwire in 1998, the former baseball standout hit 609 home runs throughout his 18-year career. He was a superstar with the Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles but is now drawing attention for something quite different.

Sosa was photographed at the Latin Grammy Awards in Las Vegas looking a lot lighter than normal. In addition to his lightened skin, Sosa was also caught sporting green colored contact lenses.

“He looks strange now,” Hakim Famers of D.C. said. “I don’t know why he would want to drastically change his appearance like that.”

When questioned about the change in his appearance, Sosa said the change is attributed to the use of a skin softening cream manufactured in Europe. Later in the week, Sosa admitted to reporters that he uses a skin bleaching cream before he goes to bed every night and added that he has used the bleaching cream for the past couple of months.

“It is pretty surprising to hear what he’s done to himself,” junior Trumpet Franklin said. Many other Howard students are puzzled by the move.

“I honestly think that it’s pretty lame,” senior Sam Connor said. “I can’t agree with it [skin bleaching], because it looks to me like you aren’t cool with who you are. More importantly, it’s the message that it sends to the kids who look up to him. I don’t think he thought about this thoroughly. You must take into consideration the backlash from the media and how this will be portrayed to the world.”

The Sosa skin color change has been a media favorite topic of late. Pictures have been published throughout the Internet with before and after photos of Sosa. Former National Basketball Association (NBA) star and current analyst of TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” Charles Barkley, wore white makeup mocking Sosa in front of a national television audience.

Sosa, however, doesn’t believe that the change in his physical appearance is as drastic as portrayed in media reports. He has told reporters that bright TV and camera lights make his skin appear lighter than it actually is. Other people seem to be in Sosa’s corner as well.

“If he feels it [the skin cream] is of good quality, it may be something that he will be endorsing and marketing in the United States in the near future,” said Rebecca Polihronis, former Cubs community relations employee, who spoke to reporters on behalf of Sosa.

Like it or not, the change of complexion has caused a media circus. The former baseball star is set to make his first television appearance since the controversy.

Tony Dundrades will interview Sosa on Univision’s “Primer Impacto” show next week. The interview will almost certainly surface all over network and cable news programs. “I think that whenever someone has a problem with the way God made them, it’s a problem. However, it is his decision to do this, and it’s his life,” Franklin said.
 

3 comments

Mr. White

Thu Dec 3 2009 06:38

I guess White people are correct when they say that "Black people wished they were White" especially after see what Sammy Sosa did to himself.

A Black Latino

Mon Nov 23 2009 14:00

Another member of the Black African Disaspora sells out just to make another buck and to be accepted. "Buck Dancing" Sammy Sosa has become an embarassment and traitor to his race. Sammy Sosa, "The dominicano estúpido."

The Black Cynic

Mon Nov 23 2009 12:53

Regardless of "Smilling Face" Sammy Sosa (actually, its Sammy Peralta Sosa) rationale for exhibiting the utmost in Black self-hatred, we must keep in mind that he's the one who has to look in the mirror with his distorted and disfigured face. That being said, for all of those hailing from the African Diaspora shouldn't be upset and just realize that "Smiling Sammy" is poof that Global White Racism is alive and well and operating of steriods. So, "Smiling Sammy" regardless of how you temporarily altered the surface layer of your face, you'll still will be profiled when you leave the US border and try to reenter the US, or while you're driving in your fancy car.

For those not too familiar with the Dominican Republic and many other Latin American countries where they have large populations of Africans(Blacks).Those with darker skin have been the recipient (both historically and currently)of being denied educational, employment and housing opportunties, etc. amongst other things(sounds familiar from a US context as well). This is part in partial to Spanish colonialism which has been inculcated into the core of these respective countries. For those that dissent, I would recommend for you to research any of these Latin American countries to see who is holding the leadership positions in finance, government, education, and private industry. Also, I would recommend your reading "Pichon: Race and Revolution in Castro's Cuba: A Memoir by Carlos Moore" and then you'll understaind my point. I would very easily say for the "Latinos" who are more "Eurocentric Looking" are the ones holding these "high positions".

Not to mention, one can even make similar claims as it pertains to Blacks(Africans) living here in the USA, the Caribbean, and the continent of Africa respectively. Until those of the entire African Diaspora realize that you can not run from your "Blackness" and should in no way shape of form try to alter what God, Budha, or Allah made you out to be, a Black man or Black woman.

Adios Blanco Sammy

Add comment


I am not posting spam. I understand posting spam or other comments that are unrelated to this article will cause my comment to be flagged for deletion and possibly cause my IP address to be permanently banned from this server.

Enter the characters in the image above:

log out