Nationwide — Karyn Washington, the 22-year-old young woman who created the For Brown Girls website, has reportedly died after committing suicide. Sources say that she suffered from depression, especially after the recent loss of her mother.Her web site, ForBrownGirls.com, was a popular blog that empowered African and African American women. According to the web site itself, the mission was to “celebrate the beauty of dark skin while combatting colorism and promoting self love! FBG was created to celebrate darker shades of brown- to encourage those struggling with accepting having a darker skin complexion to love and embrace the skin they are in.”
Her web site was also known for selling t-shirts for women with empowering messages such as, “I love my shade”.
Washington was also the originator of the #DarkSkinRedLip project, which knocked down beauty standards and encouraged black women to find and wear whatever shade of red lipstick that looked best on them.
Washington is being mourned all over the nation, but especially among fellow bloggers and her social media followers. Her supporters are sharing their condolences on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media outlets.
Her untimely death has also re-sparked the conversation about addressing the issue of mental health in the black community.
For more details about the blog, visit www.forbrowngirls.com
To see the blog’s Facebook page, visit www.facebook.com/forbrowngirls