well we're joined now by nina davuluri who is the 1st indian american to be crowned miss america and 2014 she also created a petition this month calling on the major players in the industry to stop making skin whitening products and she joins us now via skype from new york nina thank you for being with us today i know you've been campaigning on this issue for years so let me start by asking you for your reaction to what we're saying now yeah absolutely thank you so much for having me and this is an issue that i have been really advocating for 60 years now since the time that i won this america i remember the morning after i won and woke up to a headline in an indian newspaper that said it's miss america too dark to be miss india and that was the moment that everything had changed for me you know i grew up hearing comments like don't go out in the sun you're going to get too dark for oh you'd be so much more beautiful if you were a few sheets lighter and since that time i've actually been producing a documentary starting 2 years ago called complection that really into untacked this id

it's now also planning to stop selling its skin whitening creams in asia and the middle east now nina davuluri spoke to is the fast indian american to be crowned miss america back in 2014 she's petitioned manufacturers to stop making whitening products and welcomes the news. this is been an issue that i have been really advocating for 6 years now since the time that i won this america i remember the morning after i won and woke up to a headline in an indian newspaper that said it's miss america too dark to be miss india and that was the moment that everything had changed for me you know i grew up hearing comments like don't go out in the sun you're going to get too dark or oh you'd be so much more beautiful if you're a few shades lighter and since that time i've actually been producing a documentary starting 2 years ago called complection that really aimed to untack this idea colorism not only as it exists in south asia but many countries around the world and so to hear this news it's really the 1st step in moving forward to dismantle these arcade notions of colorism and globally just eliminat