Here’s an alternate version of my depiction of the Hindu goddess Kali with a more natural, dark brown skin tone. The original version, which I did as a commission for a T-shirt design, gave her blue skin typical for representations of Hindu deities, but then I thought back to the colorism rampant throughout India today, with lighter skin being held as more desirable than darker skin. It’s probable that British imperialism in India had a lot to do with this prejudice developing, but it’s possible that earlier waves of invaders from central Eurasia (e.g. the Aryans and Mughals) contributed to it too. Either way, I felt that depicting a popular Hindu goddess with darker skin, like that of the aboriginal people of South Asia, would be a statement against it.