Report: Sosa's Skin Lighter From Cleansing

(CBS)  No, Sammy Sosa isn't still wearing makeup from his Halloween costume.

A picture of the former Chicago Cubs slugger has been circulating showing him with a lighter skin tone than what fans might remember when he played at Wrigley Field. The shot was taken when Sosa, who is Dominican, attended the Latin Grammys, reported CBS News station WBBM-TV in Chicago.

The Chicago Tribune reported that the lighter skin tone is a side effect from a skin rejuvenation process.

"He's not trying to be Michael Jackson," former Cubs employee Rebecca Polihronis, one of Sosa's friends, told the Tribune.

When Polihronis first saw the photo, she told the Tribune she thought the man pictured was a body double. She said Sosa chose to treat his skin because of his many years playing baseball in the sun.

"He is in the middle of doing a cleansing process to his skin," Polihronis told the newspaper. "The picture is deceiving. He said, 'If you saw me in person, you would be surprised. When you see me in person, it is not going to seem like the picture.'"

Local Video from CBS 2 in Chicago

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[indiansfan102]

He is using St. Dalfour. He bought it on ebay.

[butterflync]

Sooooo what is the big deal here? White folks tan to get darker skin EVERY DAY, and you don't see it making national headlines. No one is accusing them of wanting to be black. So.... Why can't a person color bleach to get lighter skin? Sheesh, it's his life, let him live it and go live yours people!

[ameeramac]

If there was a skin rejuvenation process that would lighten your skin,let's face it, they'd be a lot of formerly dark skin people walking around looking like Sosa. The whole light skin is better than dark skin lie is serious and very real issue within the black community, and this thinking is fueled by the fact that we can clearly see that all around the world, our lighter skin brothers and sisters (with "good" hair) receive better treatment and more opportunities.

[theblackexperience]

I too can't believe Sammy has ruin such darker handsome face, he once sported.

I am from the Great Lake area which is much colder than the now Southern
State that I live in, it is very hot.My mom is a mixed light skinned women and my dad is dark brown, and they had me a medium brown daughter. I did noticed after being in the South for over 2years I had gotten very dark. Most of my family asked me if I was tanning,and why have I gotten so DARK! When I rewed my husband of 10years my dad took me down the aisle,and it was noticeable that my dad was even lighter than me by 1 or 2 shades. It did not bother me, but my family comments on it every time I show them pictures of my wedding.
We need to get over this SLAVE MENTALITY about skin tones. Lighter colors are not better than Darker colors.
Dark colors + or - Light colors = beautiful Ranges of Colors. PERIOD!

[IamHymn]

Why is this news? I don't get it! Why is it that fair skinned people can get as dark (orange/red) as they want (in order to look like what they are not naturally) and no one says anything but let a person of color have his/her skinned lightened (for whatever reason) and it's on the news? Are we not yet in the throws of a recession? Are not gunmen slaying people at will/random right here on American soil? Aren't we still in two wars (with others possibly looming)? I could go on but my point is is somehow Sammy Sosa - who mind you is not African-American so I don't get the Michael Jackson comparisons - has his seemingly depigment face on CBSNEWS? I would say American racism at it's best but then somehow my face would be plastered here too right? Uggghhh!

Hymn

[skeetchamp]

he looks ridiculous now, and sick like the undead. freakshow time!

[crikeytx46]

And lay off the ALL CAPS please....it hurts my eyes!

[crikeytx46]

Why is it that some people are so consumed with white vs. black, that they miss the obvious. A simple genetic disorder that he is having to deal with by lightening the rest of the skin around the patches. In fact this genetic disorder can also be found in white people much less black. I know because it is also found in my family.

I should have stated lighter skin vs. darker skin instead of basic white vs. black. My bad!

[Jsmn1]

MR. SOSA'S DARKER, NATURAL COMPLEXION IS NOT AS A RESULT OF DAMAGED SKIN. UNDER HIS DEAD LAYERS OF SKIN, YOU WILL FIND MORE BEAUTIFUL, DARK SKIN, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT GOD MADE HIM TO BE. I THINK WE ALL KNOW THIS. SAMMY IS CLEARLY, CLEARLY ATTEMPTING TO ERASE HIMSLEF THROUGH AN ACT OF SELF-HATRED, NOT "CLEANSING". WHY CAN'T SOME RACIST OR SELF HATING PEOPLE, UNDERSTAND THAT DARKER SKIN AND OTHER AFRICAN TRAITS ARE NOT A RESULT OF MISFORTUNE, MISTAKE, DAMAGE OR MUTATION?! DARK SKIN IS ONE OF THE BLESSINGS THAT GOD CREATED HIS VERY BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN TO HAVE, THAT WAS MADE IN THE IMAGE OF JESUS, WHO HAD "feet of burnt brass and wooly hair". DARKER SKIN DOES NOT MEAN DAMAGE AND IT DOES NOT NEED TO BE "CORRECTED" BY LAISER PEELS OR SKIN BLEACHING, EVEN FROM A DERMATOLOGIST! WHY CAN'T PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THAT HAVING DARK SKIN IS NOT AND I MEAN NOT A CURSE. I AM AN AFRO-LATINO FROM THE DOMINICAN REPULBIC, JUST LIKE SAMMY SOSA AND I CAN TELL YOU THAT SELF LOATHING OF ALL THINGS AFRICAN, INCLUDING OUR SKIN HAS BEEN TAUGHT TO US BY THE SPANIARDS (Europeans) IN ORDER TO KEEP US MENTALLY ENSLAVED.THIS IS TAUGHT BY EUROPEANS, TO AFRICANS AND OTHER PEOPLE OF COLOR ALL AROUND THE WORLD. THIS TEACHING OF SELF HATRED TO PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT IN ALL OF OUR COUNTRIES BY EUROPEANS IS DONE INTENTIONALLY TO KEEP US OPPRESSED; SO THAT THE WHITE PEOPLE CAN STAY IN POWER, EVEN TO THIS DAY! SAMMY SOSA, DID NOT, AND I MEAN NOT, "CLEAN" ANYTHING BY BLEACHING HIS SKIN, AS DARK SKIN IS NOT, NOT DIRTY!!!! DARK SKIN IS A RESULT OF MORE MELANIN BECAUSE OF THE REGION IN WHICH SOME OF OUR ANCESTORS CAME FROM, NAMELY......AFRICA, SAY IT AAAAFFFFRRRICAAA! LET'S NOT BE ASHAMED OF IT! THERE ARE ABSOLUTELY NO HEALTH BENEFITS TO BLEACHING YOUR SKIN. IF ANYTHING, IT IS VERY PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY UNHEALTHY, TO BLEACH YOUR SKIN, AS THE TOXINS IN HYDROQUIANINE AND OTHER SKIN BLEACHING CHEMICALS, ARE NOT MEANT TO BE USED ON THE ENTIRE BODY. IT IS ONLY MEANT TO BE USED TO HELP MINIMIZE THE APPEARANCE OF SMALL, ISOLATED, SCARS AND BLACKHEADS, BUT SOME PEOPLE HAVE USED IT ALL OVER THEIR BODIES IN AN ATTEMPT TO "ERASE" WHO THEY ARE AND LOOK LIKE EUROPEANS. USING THESE CHEMICALS ALL OVER THE BODY, GETS INTO THE BLOOD STREAM AND CAN POISIN THE SYSTEM, EVEN CAUSE DEATH TO THE PERSON WHO DOES THIS! SAMMY SOSA'S "UNDERLYING TONE" IS NOT ANYTHING LIGHT SKINNED AND IT DOESN'T NEED TO BE LIGHTSKINNED TO BE BEAUTIFUL!!!!! HIS UNDERLYING TONE WAS WHAT WE HAVE SEEN FOR THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS, BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL, DARK SKIN THAT NEVER NEEDED TO BE TAMPERED WITH! SAMMY LIGHTENED HIS SKIN TO LOOK MORE LIKE THE PEOPLE WHO ARE IN POWER IN OUR SOCIETIES.....THE WHITE PEOPLE OR EUROPEANS. (continued next)

[Jsmn1]

(continued)

HE DOESN'T UNDERSTAND THAT THEY ARE ONLY IN POWER,BECUASE THEIR ANCESTORS MURDURED, RAPED AND OPPRESSED THE AFRICANS AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF THE "AMERICAS". IF HE DID, HE WOULD UNDERSTAND THAT HIS ANCESTORS WERE LIED TO BY EUROPEANS, WHEN THEY WERE TAUGHT THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THEIR SKIN COLOR, HAIR AND FEATURES! HE LOOKS RIDICULOUS WITH THE FAKE, CONTRIVED COMPLEXION THAT HE AS ATTEMPTED TO CREATE. HE IS ALSO WEARING LIGHT CONTACTS IN HIS EYES THAT HE STARTED TO WEAR, EVEN BEFORE HE LIGHTENED HIS SKIN.....MAYBE HE'S JUST "CLEANING" HIS EYES TOO!! ANYONE WHO APPROVES OF HIM DOING THIS IS A JERK WHO IS PROBABLY A RACIST PERSON OR A SELF-HATING PERSON OF COLOR. JUST SO WE ARE CLEAR, TANNING OF THE SKIN BY WHITE PEOPLE IS NOT HEALTH EITHER.....BUT THE DIFFERENCE IS THAT WHITE PEOPLE HAVE NOT BEEN TOLD THAT SOMETHING WAS WRONG WITH THEIR COMPLEXIONS BY BLACK PEOPLE.....THEY TAN THEMSELVES BECAUSE THEY ADMIRE THE COMPLEXIONS OF THE PEOPLE THAT THEIR ANCESTORS HAVE OPPRESSED ALL THESE YEARS. EITHER WAY, THE TANNING NEEDS TO STOP ALSO, BUT THE CONDITION OF THE DESCENDENTS OF THE PEOPLE WHO WERE AND ARE THE MOST OPPRESSED BY WHITE PEOPLE HAVE A GREATER NEED TO DISCUSS THIS BEHAVIOR, SO THAT WE MAY STOP THE SELF-HATRED. THE DESCENDENTS OF THOSE OPPRESSED THE MOST BY EUROPEANS SHOULD ADDRESS OUR PROBLEMS BY IMITATING WHAT WHITE PEOPLE DO. PERHAPS THEIR SHOULD BE AN ARTICLE ABOUT HOW STUPID SKIN TANNING IS, BUT THE REASON WHY WHITE PEOPLE TAN THEIR SKIN IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM WHY PEOPLE OF COLOR WOULD WANT TO LIGHTEN THEIR SKIN. SAMMY SOSA LIGHTENED HIS SKIN TO IMITATE THE WHITE PEOPLE WHO ARE IN POWER AT THIS TIME. IT'S FUNNY, BECAUSE LOOKING WHITE, WAS NOT WHAT MADE HIM SUCCESSFUL ALL THESE YEARS. THIS ARTICLE ABOUT SKIN LIGHTING IS DEFINATELY ONE OF SUBSTANCE. IT WAS WRITTEN BY PEOPLE WHO NOTICED SOMEONE WITH A PROBLEM. THE WRITERS PROBABLY DO NEED TO ADDRESS ALL THE WHITE PEOPLE WHO TANN THEMSLEVES AS WELL, THEY HAVE A PROBLEM TOO, IT'S JUST DIFFERENT. THE IMPOSITION OF EUROPEAN BEAUTY IS A FALSE ONE, THAT SHOULD NEVER BE CONSIDERED THE "STANDARD" OF BEUTY, SORRY. WITH ALL THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE OF COLOR IN THE WORLD, I CAN'T BELIEVE EUROPEAN BEAUTY WAS EVER CONSIDERED THAT STANDARD OF BEAUTY...THAT'S JUST CRAZY. LIKE IT OR NOT, GOD MADE THE DESCENDENTS OF THE AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE TO THE ALL OF THE AMERICAS AND THE INDIANS OF THE AMERICAS, TO BE VERY GIFTED AND BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE. Part of this Gift is our beautiful Dark complexions that LOOK NOTHING LIKE THE EUROPEANS THAT ENSLAVED US. WE ARE A SPECIAL PEOPLE AND WE NEED TO STOP ALLOWING PEOPLE TO CONVINCE US THAT THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH US. THE TIME WE SPEND BLEACHING OUR SKING AND TRYING TO CHANGE OURSELVES TO LOOK LIKE OUR OPPRESSORS, IS TIME THAT WE CAN SPEND CAMPAIGNING FOR EQUAL RIGHTS, FINANCES, HOUSING AND EDUCATION. SAMMY SOSA NEEDS TO EDUCATE HIMSELF ABOUT HAVING MORE PRIDE IN HIS BLOODLINE THAN HIS WALLET SIZE. AGAIN, THEIR IS NO BENEFIT TO USING TECHNOLOGY TO DESTROYING OUR BEAUTIUFL DARK COMPLEXIONS AND TRYING TO LIGHTEN THEM. THIS IS JUST STUPID.