When asked to think about my experience with color or what some would assume is a lack thereof, I am
When asked to think about my experience with color or what some would assume is a lack thereof, I am immediately protective. I find that too often there is more division between brown girls than anything else. As a fair skinned African-American woman, I still identify myself as being brown. Growing up, I was lighter than my immediate family. My father is a deep brown and my mother has an olive brown skin and my brother shared her complexion. And I have tons of family that spans the spectrum. It’s difficult when you come from a family of brown people not to consider yourself brown. My color was never an issue. I was never treated any differently in my family because of skin color. We were all just who we were. The importance of education and being a good person were at the crux of our upbringing. I found that more attention was brought to my color on the outside of my home than anything. It seemed like it mattered more to other girls that I was light than it mattered to me. I can remember always being pegged “stuck up” or “she think she cute,” when that was the farthest thing from how I felt about myself. I was super intelligent with glasses and I was always scrawny. So my reflection to me was different than what they saw. The most beautiful thing about black people is that we come in so many shades. My best friend for years had dark brown skin that anyone would envy. Her whole family was a dark mocha and some of the most gorgeous people I ever met on the inside and out. We are the color of chestnuts, butterscotch, pecans, chocolate, coffee, toffee; whatever you can think of. There’s pride in all those shades of brown. Whether you are light, dark, or green, there are commonalities in our experience. If we continue to focus on the differences, that will be all we see. People still ask me things like “how I get my hair this way,” (I am natural) and expect me to be the voice for all black people in a room full of white faces. It’s sad that sometimes we can’t see that we are all in this together. I love who I am and never at the expense of my darker sisters but in unison and conjunction with them. Knowing that you are enough will put you in a place where you would never want to put down your fellow “brown girl.” Being brown is my family, it’s my history, and no one will take that away from me because my skin has hints of yellow. As I age, I am more confident in who I am now than I ever have been. I would encourage other women to learn how to let go of past hurts and realize that the key to their beauty has always really been within. No matter what the media, men, or school administrations say about us, we are held in high favor and high regard by God. Be Bold, be Brown and be beautiful on the inside and out! |Guest Post by Ashley Coleman of http://writelaughdream.com/| -- source link
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