And the blackfishing continues…
Many people do not know who DaniLeigh–Danielle Leigh Curiel–is. Some may know her as DaBaby’s girlfriend, but by this week everyone knows she is another non-black Latina pretending to be Afro-Latina.
The top picture shows DaniLeigh’s ever changing brown “skin tone” and her very visibly non-black looking parents. The middle picture shows a tweet DaniLeigh posted back in June of last year that breakdowns her racial and ethnic background. Although these DNA tests are not without their questionable methodologies and both race and ethnicity cannot be intrinsically tied to genetics because they are social constructs, DaniLeigh’s results clearly show a whiter makeup. 27% Portuguese, 19% Spaniard, 12% Cameroonian/Congolese/Southern Bantu, 6% Italian, etc. People have also pointed out that DaniLeigh either slipped up or only started identifying as black very recently because in a tweet from June once more but before she posted her DNA results, DaniLeigh made it a point to say that she is Dominican, but not black, when talking about the Black Lives Matter protests over George Floyd’s death.
But how and why was she caught after what seems like years of racefaking or at the very least, blurring the lines of her racial and ethnic background?
Well, a week or so ago, DaniLeigh got in trouble with the black community for releasing a snippet of her upcoming single, “Yellow Bone” to her Instagram.
Quick question, why does this song sound so bad lmao!
Colorism, misogynoir, and how other forms of oppression that take on distinctly anti-black manifestations have been subjects black people have been talking about since we were brought to this part of the world against our will in chains. Unfortunately, some black people–typically those who benefit from these systems of domination or want to–love to play dumb and act as though these are non-issues or things both black and white dominated America have moved past “years ago.” So, DaniLeigh, playing her role as a supposed light skinned black woman, pretended to be shocked when mostly black women called her out for blatantly perpetuating colorism in this awful song, first doubling down on Twitter before “apologizing” later on Instagram.
[…] only God can “cancel” me […] I’m sorry if I offended u .
[…] y’all all HATERS
[…] And I said is what he want !!! Not what the world world want … I’m talking bout myself … stop playing w me .
Y’all NOT FOR ME
[…] I’m Dominican… I’m Spanish , I’m black I’m white .. leave me alone .
It’s the forced blaccent for me lol
DaniLeigh defended the making of this colorist song by saying that she just wanted to uplift light skinned women, arguing that if Beyoncé can make a song about brown skinned girls, then what was the issue with her making a song about light skinned girls. She, probably because she is not black and people were exposing her for blackfishing, also mentioned that she’s dating a “chocolate man,” DaBaby, insinuating that she can’t be colorist (or racist) if her man is darker than her.
DaniLeigh and her clearly colorstruck boyfriend DaBaby. DaBaby also cosigned “Yellow Bone” by leaving yellow circles under DaniLeigh’s Instagram post.
The jokes truly write themselves but I was curious as to what was the larger reason that this was happening to her. Because it seems like exposing a blackfish doesn’t seem to do much to the racefaker, at least from what I’ve seen. Princess Nokia, for example, was discovered to be a blackfish back in September when a tumblr user who goes by wickedghastly received an ask wanting evidence for this accusation.
Princess Nokia is a non-black, non-indigenous Puerto Rican who is pretending to be Afro-indigenous.
Likewise, we had the non-black Gina Rodriguez convince us she was Afro-Latina despite always showing a particular disdain towards black American issues.
Gina Rodriguez is also a non-black Puerto Rican who claimed she was Afro-Latina, even going so far as to lie and say her father is “dark skinned.”
Nothing has really happened to these women’s careers despite people always clutching their pearls about “cancel culture” ruining stars’ reputations. So, I pulled some cards wondering what will be DaniLeigh’s fate.
Will DaniLeigh be able to come back from this?
Top row: 11th house - The Edge, 6th house - Craft, Moon -Feelings, and Mercury - Communication. Capricorn - the Boss is at the bottom of the deck. Bottom row: Choose a new direction, no. Unlikely is at the bottom of the deck. Sorry for the poor quality, by the way.
The first question I asked was, “What will DaniLeigh do next?” For that I got the 11th house, the 6th house, the Moon, and Mercury. Capricorn was at the bottom of the deck.
To me this meant that DaniLeigh will keep talking, trying her best to convince us–black people–that she is really black and that she did in fact mean no harm with her colorist song. With the Moon and Mercury cards in particular, I think she will try her best to appeal to our emotions, basically manipulating her words to make her seem like either a victim or that she was just merely “ignorant” and “will do better in the future.”
On a personal level, I think she wants this to all go away, which is why the 6th house of work showed up. This whole situation is messing her bag and she is seeing that. Therefore, with the 11th house and Capricorn cards, I think she will try to paint herself as one of us–as black–by trying to get a black man, likely darker than her, to cosign or vouch for her.
Why, I have no idea because most of us black women tend to disregard what black men have to say on black matters because they often intentionally exclude us at best, or at worst, blame us for these problems we all collectively face as a race so they can thirst and uplift non-black women like DaniLeigh.
In either case, I then asked if her career will be okay after this. While shuffling I added, “like a Doja Cat,” which is a bit unfair in hindsight because Doja is actually half black which may explain why she was better able to bounce back from her own issues.
Regardless, I got “choose a new direction” and “no” to my question. The card “unlikely” was at the bottom of the deck, perhaps to make it clearer that DaniLeigh’s fate is not looking favorable right now.
A yellow bone may be what her man clearly wants, but what happens when you’re not even black?
Next I asked, “Why did this [exposure] even happen?” I asked this because when other tarot and oracle readers read on celebrity scandals, there seems to be a reoccurring theme of said celebrity being warned by their spirit guides, them ignoring the call, and then shortly after they are exposed for something they were trying to keep in the dark. And sure enough, “Intuition” comes out.
Top row: 42: Intuition - Inner Child; 29: Despair - Nature Spirits; 22: Denial - Divine Helpers (bottom of the deck) Bottom row: 15: Garden - Something lovely will grow from this; 32: Escapist - Come home to yourself; 4: Mirror - Treat your body like the palace it is.
I find oracle cards always entertainingly direct and specific. As we can see from these cards, it seems like DaniLeigh was exposed because she needs to stop lying about herself. She is not black and yet she parades herself around as a light skinned black woman for clout and money, an ever increasing phenomena among non-black celebrities, “influencers,” and online personality types alike.
With the Intuition card, I feel like she was warned about this impeding reveal, which is confirmed in the tarot I pulled later. The Despair card also talks about being grounded with one’s physical self, which is mirrored in the Escapist card below it. Speaking of mirroring, the Mirror card to me symbolizes how DaniLeigh’s public persona is not a true reflection of who she is. She is in denial over her real heritage, and her guides have seemed to have tried to work with her on that but she has ignored them. But they kept trying to reassure her that, yes, “something good will come from [being your true self].” However, Denial is clearly clouding her better judgement.
To be honest, as a black woman, I do not understand why non-black people of color want to be black and go to great lengths to cosplay as black. As much as they degrade our “ghetto” culture, or “lack” of culture, they sure do love to dress up in it, and understand that they can monetize these blackfaced personas. I do not get the cognitive dissonance even when money is an incentive but perhaps it is not for me or other black people to understand.
Blaccents and performative blackness often helps propel non-black people’s careers forward while black people being our genuine selves are hindered by being “too black”
For tarot, I asked the same question as to why this was happening to DaniLeigh. I also asked how DaniLeigh was feeling about all of this backlash.
Why: 7 of Cups, Knight of Pentacles, the Moon reversed, King of Wands, Everything is Fine (10 of Swords), and 3 of Cups Her current feelings: The Magician reversed, the 3 of Wands reversed, the Page of Cups, the Page of Pentacles reversed, Death reversed (bottom of the deck)
Starting with the 7 of Cups, it seems like DaniLeigh was offered many different things or she had an assortment of material to choose from for her new single. Money was on her mind with the Knight of Pentacles appearing right after the 7 of Cups. However, with the Moon in reverse, something was wrong or she clearly picked the wrong cup. This card can also symbolize secrets being revealed or receiving messages you do not quite understand. I think all possibilities are probable.
With the King of Wands, I see a man, either the one who offered her the song, a producer, or even her boyfriend DaBaby, looking at everyone’s reaction like “What the fuck!” Music is a very collaborative endeavor, so if an artist fumbles socially, many other people’s bags are messed up in the process as well. And I see that with the King of Wands. With the “Everything is Fine”/10 of Swords card, I see DaniLeigh trying to ignore or dismiss this backlash but she still feels everyone’s daggers in her back. She is likely online right now scrolling through her feed, comments section, and reading articles on herself, wondering what she should do next.
With the 3 of Cups card ending this spread, I initially saw it as the black community, or black women more specifically, rejoicing at DaniLeigh’s exposure lol. I say that because this is the card of celebration and the women in this card all look black or could be black.
As for how DaniLeigh is currently feeling, she feels as though this song should have been a hit, or at the very least, should not have garnered so much negative attention. With the Magician in reverse, her manifestation did not materialize, and instead, she was exposed for the fraud she is. Because she is not black and likely only surrounds herself with colorstruck black men, DaniLeigh did not see this backlash coming from a mile away. She has been able to coast on by pretending to be black all this time, so why would it be different now, is perhaps what she is thinking. She did not plan any of this through. She saw money and opportunity and now it has blown up in her face. She was naive and living in a bubble. She knows better currently, but with Death reversed at the bottom of the deck, DaniLeigh will likely be unable to move past from this situation emotionally, I believe. But she sowed these seeds of deception herself, so now she has to harvest the fruits of her labor. Everybody wants to be a nigga without having to deal with the consequences of being a nigga or being exposed as not being a true negro. So, DaniLeigh will have to deal with her own mistakes like the adult she is.
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Astro Lola 