Young Celie, Desreta Jackson Says Colorism Made Her Leave Hollywood After ‘The Color Purple’
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Arya Tsaddiq
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Desreta Jackson is best known for playing the young version of Celie Johnson, opposite Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, and Oprah Winfrey in Steven Spielberg’s 1985 Oscar-nominate drama, The Color Purple.
The film hit theaters December 18, 1985 to critical acclaim.
In an interview with theGrio, Jackson opens up about her career-defining role as Celie and celebrates the 30th Anniversary of the film.
Jackson and her pregnant mother moved to L.A. from the West Indies when she was 9-years-old. Her mother couldn’t find work so for a year they were homeless living in the Skid Row section of downtown Los Angeles.
Jackson eventually enrolled in elementary school, started acting class, and after only a few weeks landed a role in The Color Purple.
“At the time I didn’t even know who Steven Spielberg was, I had never heard of Oprah or seen her show. Whoopi Goldberg was on the rise, but I didn’t know who anybody was,” Jackson recalls. “They were just good people who were co-workers.”
She remembers Oprah acting as her on set mother, providing guidance throughout the filming process.
“I was the only kid on the set, but Oprah was very loving and embracing. She was kind of like a mother on set. During the whole taping, I never got to really meet Whoopi. But Oprah was definitely always around. Even after The Color Purple she was still around in my life.”
Jackson says after The Color Purple she attempted to find work in Hollywood as an actress but encountered colorism because of her dark skin.
“To be very honest I had to leave Hollywood because as a young child it didn’t seem to flourish [in] my mind very well. Coming here from the islands, I didn’t even know that I was dark-skinned, there wasn’t a color issue in my head,” Jackson says. “I always thought I was beautiful. It wasn’t until I got in Hollywood that I started understanding there were dark-skinned blacks and light-skinned blacks and there were roles for this character and roles for that character based on a color. I left Hollywood and in the process of leaving it, it helped develop myself into a woman.”
These days Jackson is the CEO of her own haircare line, BlackSilk Products which she was inspired to launch in an effort to style her daughter’s hair without the use of harsh artificial chemicals.
Jackson is set to release her first book, The Black Hair Conspiracy: A Guide to Grow and Care for Natural Hair, in February, 2016.
Additionally Jackson has teamed up with Dark Girls director Bill Duke to executive produce and appear in a movie about the life of African American slave Nat Turner, starring Keith David, Mike Epps, Eric Roberts, Kym Whitley, and Todd Bridges.
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5655d0dfe4b08e945fea97ea
Does she have a point?
Oh and Shout out to Bill Duke and all the work he is giving these black actors!
Comments
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Good for her...and yes colorism is heavy among white film makers
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Does she have a point?
They putting out a movie about white Egyptian gods... -
Brother_Five wrote: »Does she have a point?
They putting out a movie about white Egyptian gods...
They been doing that -
Hollywood is racist
Water is wet
Fire is hot -
? shouldn't quit.
Stop letting these white racist win -
Black folk underestimate their impact on culture and trends which is why I never understand why we don't clique up more in our respective industries
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Shizlansky wrote: »? shouldn't quit.
Stop letting these white racist win
Win what? -
Judge_Judah wrote: »Shizlansky wrote: »? shouldn't quit.
Stop letting these white racist win
Win what?
They wanna keep black out. So she didn't fight back to do her thing
She quit -
Hard to believe there is no colorism in the West Indies. And are those colored contacts she has on her eyes?
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babelipsss wrote: »Hard to believe there is no colorism in the West Indies. And are those colored contacts she has on her eyes?
I was waiting on someone to notice that lol. -
Brother_Five wrote: »Does she have a point?
They putting out a movie about white Egyptian gods...
Get over it bruh....they apologized
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/28/entertainment/gods-of-egypt-cast-apology-feat/
Now you can go see it w/o the guilt -
babelipsss wrote: »Hard to believe there is no colorism in the West Indies. And are those colored contacts she has on her eyes?
But she got a natural haircare line lol -
Id still beat tho... .
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Hollywood definitely looks at color, but the fact she had no experience and was a child actor was likely the biggest issue. Most child actors get one or two roles and are done for their career.
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babelipsss wrote: »Hard to believe there is no colorism in the West Indies. And are those colored contacts she has on her eyes?
There is colorism in the West Indies. It is with any country that had a history of slavery and colonialism. It's like that in Jamaica. -
So y'all don't believe that she felt beautiful until she encountered Hollywood racism?
Lol -
It is possible that a young child isn't aware of colorism ....I didn't know about it till middle school
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Why did Halle have to let Billy Bob pop her to win a Oscar?
Why Denzel have to be crooked before he took it? -
Honestly, her being ugly didn't help.
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Color, in addition to class and universally attractive features, plays a huge part to why she was largely unsuccessful.
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babelipsss wrote: »Hard to believe there is no colorism in the West Indies. And are those colored contacts she has on her eyes?
And btw there is no colorism in the carribean. Dont believe me go ask Sammy Sosa
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? flagging me like they find young celie attractive. I never saw her in ill pix...
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movie about the life of African American slave Nat Turner, starring Keith David, Mike Epps, Eric Roberts, Kym Whitley, and Todd Bridges.
Ahhhh idk yall this 1 might not make it to theatres -
Shizlansky wrote: »? shouldn't quit.
Stop letting these white racist win
Smh @ some point , a person has to say ? it. and live their life...
It takes a special kind of person to put up with ? , to only make it, and put up with even more ? .
It couldn't be me. -
psychobutcher wrote: »Honestly, her being ugly didn't help.
There's a lot of ugly ass wht ppl, winning sexy person of the year awards every year.psychobutcher wrote: »Color, in addition to class and universally attractive features, plays a huge part to why she was largely unsuccessful.
And what the ? are universally attractive features???