4twnty
Stories (1/0)
Endlessly Sisters
Dear black girl, We were just like you. We know you look in the mirror and can't find a single thing to admire about yourself. As a little girl we would also stare back at ourselves in an unloving manner. Our skin as dark as coal, our hair that defied gravity, our lips that were disproportionately large, stood no match against the beauty that we saw in light skin, silky hair and thin lips . We hated our features. We were shown through the image of my idols and peers that we weren’t the only one who hated them as well. We also entered rooms to see how our skin contrasted with the sea of light pigments to question ourselves why am I not as pretty as she is, why I didn't have what they had, why I didn't have whatever it was. Us too, were raised not able to recognize how beautiful the earthly tones of brown were. We know what it's like to be asked if you wear weave like “the rest” of them, and how your strength and assertiveness can somehow be mistaken for being sassy, angry, or ghetto. We know what it's like to be asked if you are offended by the N-word, if you're capable of bruising, or to be told that your nappy hair needs to be tamed by the destructive chemicals of a relaxer because it is unmanageable and unprofessional. We know that there have been days when you wish you were a better girl, a lighter girl – any other girl than who you are now, because you're subconsciously told to hate everything that makes you beautiful. Or that yes, you are pretty…pretty for a black girl.
By 4twnty4 years ago in Motivation