By: Erin Moore for Body1Detroit reporter Lee Thomas has been suffering from the skin disease vitiligo, which has been gradually turning his black skin white. Rare and relatively unheard of until the 1990s when Michael Jackson revealed the condition was responsible for his change in skin color, vitiligo occurs when the cells that create skin pigment are destroyed.
Thomas first noticed a patch of white skin when he was getting his hair cut 15 years ago. The patches of color grew and more appeared, and then he was diagnosed. Although he generally uses creams and concealers to restore his dark skin tone while on air, he doesn’t use makeup at other times.
"Having this disease forces me to focus on what I am: kind, caring, honest," says Thomas. "There are people who have diseases that will kill them." He has written a book on his experience called Turning White: A Memoir of Change.
Read more about vitiligo.
