The world is in a sad state of affairs when a woman or man with rich melanin has to consider bleaching their skin to meet the Western standards of beauty often portrayed through media. 

It's honestly disgusting that in 2018, the judgment of skin tones continues to happen every day resulting in a warped idea of self-worth and low self-esteem. While many people may not like to acknowledge it, we are living in a time where colorism affects everyone — including celebrities who have to deal with constant judgment in the entertainment industry. 

ICYMI: Jamaican Dancehall Queen Spice shook up the internet on Monday when she chose to replace all her Instagram photos and videos with a new photo captioned, "nothing wrong with a fresh start," sporting long blonde hair and a far lighter skin tone.

Keep scrolling to see her new look, which quickly made fans believe she was "bleaching" her skin.

Hastily, the Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta breakout star sent fans into a frenzy worried that she had altered her beautiful brown skin.

"It’s sad that you bleached your skin," one fan commented. "What type of message do you think you're sending out there to other lil black girls who get picked on because of their skin colour? To change their skin too? This sad."

The gag is, Spice, whose real name is Grace Hamilton, knew exactly what message she wanted to send. 

It turns out that the new photo was to bring attention to her new music video, “Black Hypocrisy,” which highlights her experiences with colorism and the struggles she faced as a darker toned woman, including being referred to as “too Black” and “dirty.”

In the video, she appears in her natural skin tone while urging young women to love themselves and their Black skin. She sings her experience of being degraded about her skin tone in the Black community. Later in the video, she appears "bleached" in order to make the critics happy. 

She even confessed in the song's lyrics that she “was told [she] would reach further if the color of her skin was lighter” and that she felt as though, "society said brown girls look prettier.”

Watch the video below, whose message is to bring attention to colorism in the Black community, finding self-love and learning to embrace the skin you’re in. 

The moral of the story: Don’t feed into Black hypocrisy, love your melanin and never find yourself giving in to what others consider beautiful.

Thanks, Spice.