Black Saudi Arabian blogger challenges perceptions of beauty in the Middle East

Digital Originals

Abeer Sinder photoPhoto credit: Abeer Sinder

Abeer Sinder, Saudi Arabia’s first black video blogger was tired of hearing she was “black but beautiful”.

Now Abeer Sinder is using her platform to challenge beauty perceptions in the Middle East.

Sinder is a fourth generation Saudi with family roots that go back to Niger.

An estimated 10 percent of Saudi Arabia’s 31 million people are of African descent.

While slavery in Saudi Arabia was abolished in 1962, intolerance toward people of color in Saudi Arabia, and across the Middle East, is nothing new.

Many Arabs still use the derogatory term “abed,” or slave, when referring to dark-skinned people.

But Abeer insists that it’s ignorance rather than racism that pushes some to be intolerant.