Confessions with Co

My Skin is Wealthy

Smooth like Mocha a weapon of mass destruction to the world. Tell me what do you see when you look in the mirror? Do you see pain? Do you see strength? Or do you see the little girl who’s been flawed by the words of a white-washed world? As a brown girl who’s been a minority in many settings since I was 11, I became aware that the color of my skin is a threat. From the “I didn’t know black people could get darker” comments to the “why isn’t your hair straight” I’m still standing in my blackness today motivated and eager to teach brown and black girls that their skin is WEALTH and there is greatness in BLACKNESS; UNAPOLOGETICALLY. I don’t blame black women for not knowing this because had my journey not been what it was as far as me being the only black girl in my class; at some point the whole school, and experiencing racism at the age of 11 until I was 16 I would be just as conditioned by the same societal racial ignorance. Surrounded by ignorance young I learned quickly as a child that my blackness wouldn’t be accepted but later held on a mainstream level as culture disapprobation for profit. Women are going through desperate measures to skin bleach and rid themselves of their MELANIN. MELANIN is sold on the market for $350 per gram. How could my blackness offend you so much that you want to become me? Is it because YOU see the WEALTH in my MELANIN just as I do despite your desperate measures to change my depiction of my blackness? The world and religion have conditioned us to believe that the color black is associated with death, evil, aggression, and fear. It is the Black Panther Party that added what the world forgets to tell us about the color black. The ability to be defined by your past is almost inevitable. You must rid yourself of who you were to become who you are destined to be. Our past pain shouldn’t depict our present and limit us to become fearful of achieving greatness. At times we can cause our insecurities due to not ridding ourselves of past pain. Be free to be and give yourself the freedom to accept that your pain ignites your passion. Black is symbolic of strength, authority, elegance, sophistication, and last but not least; POWER. The POWER to motivate others through my pain because just like you, that little girl haunts me too when I’m alone in my blackness.