Black Beauty: A Conversation Going Past the Skin Barrier

"I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change, I am changing the things I cannot accept." - Angela Davis

Colorism

Colorism is a difficult topic that many are open to have the conversation and some are hesitant on having it. Colorism by definition is "prejudice or discrimination against individuals with a dark skin tone, typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group." Being able to have the understanding that every shade of black is beautiful is so important. Every shade shows our individuality as well as our complexity. No color or shade is better then the other and no color or shade should be more valued then the other. Yes, I know that society has pushed this agenda that the lighter the skin the more beautiful and acceptable it may be, but we as a people have to put an end to this agenda and not allow jealousy and distain to build up for a group that society may praise. We have to appreciate each other amongst ourselves, to block out whatever opinion is trying to be forced upon us. The change in the narrative has to begin where the narrative is the most prominent, within our own people.

Looking Deeper

This conversation is more focused on what is past skin deep, moving past the outward influence or opinion. As we know, for many years, black people have been the power house to all things creativity. We've been the creators behind dance, music, entertainment, art and yet sadly sometimes we don't receive the amount of credit for it that we should. I've been encouraged during this time of the pandemic and seeing all the amounts of creativity that are coming from my friends and peers. I have friends that have podcasts that give me a good laugh and keep me engaged in all thats going on. I have friends and peers that have started small businesses that I'm able to buy from to support both them and the power of our people as a whole. Putting money back into the black economy to begin to gain respect back to our people. I've been encouraged by the support I've also received through these blog posts I've been writing. It was definitely a leap of faith in which I wasn't sure how much of a response I would truly get from it. But, its in such a time as this that those leaps of faith are needed and the support from each other, for each other is just as important as those leaps. We've found in this time that people are no longer afraid to show that they don't appreciate us because of the hateful words that are being shared by the president. Since this is the case, we can't allow separation to rise and grow within ourselves, that only creates more of an issue leading to more harm of our people.

Appreciation

Now for the people that have allowed jealousy to grow within them and don't want to see other's succeed, nothing that someone else does can affect anything meant for you. So that should give you all the more reason to support what they're doing. Now if things aren't going your way at the moment, that just simply means that it's not your season of success at this very moment, but that shouldn't discourage you from supporting someone else's success. Also if you put out support and blessings to someone else, then blessings and support will come back to you when your time actually comes. There's already so much hate from others outside of our race towards us, so we need to be the loudest voices of love towards our own to cancel out that hate. It usually only takes a few moments of your time or a few dollars out of your pocket. It's human nature, when someone feels support and love from you, they're likely to give that support and love back.

Focusing on What's Important

Let's make our focus on the betterment of each other, not on what may be told to us. Let's take away the idea of what's being forced on us to believe about ourselves by society and pay attention to what's actually true by seeing it for ourselves. A skin color doesn't make a person more beautiful and a talent doesn't make someone more valuable. It just all goes to show how complex and unique we can all be. Now speaking more to my ladies, because sometimes we need a direct talking too, we cannot allow some of the agendas that men and sometimes sadly our black men try to push upon us. That a lighter skin means more beauty, or a lighter eye color is more appealing, or even going as far as saying that a woman needs to be "exotic" in order to be valued. We as black women need to be strong and appreciative of ourselves and each other to make these men step up to the plate. Some young men in this generation have lost the value of the black woman, so we can't wait around and expect them to change those ideals. We have to become the change we want to see and require of them to "come correct" lol. With each of us being the back bone that the other person needs, we not only make each other better, we make ourselves better.