Melanin Unity

Have you ever heard how black children try to talk about how they got whoopings (beatings) and try to downplay the constant abuse they endured? Like there’s laughs and stuff (a coping mechanism)  but dip down after everyone tells their story they realize just how much abuse they endured but masked it because we’re taught to “Love our parents and family, no matter what.”   After hearing it for so long, you want to believe it and even trick yourself to, until you just simply can’t anymore. Even after many years, like once you hit your adult years and you’re no longer living in your parents house. The constant flinching whenever someone sneaks up or even touches your shoulder, being afraid to tell people no because of what they may do, even becoming the aggressor or hurting your own children because you were taught “ I whoop you because I love you, if I don’t do it who will?” I’m here to tell you that’s not right or love at all. Beating your children and telling them th...

            As I was applying for college, there were questions that College Board and random college readiness websites told me I must perfect my responses to for college interviews.  Here is what I really wanted to say. “Tell me about yourself.”             Oh God, the big tamale right off the bat. Do you want to know who I am, admissions lady? You look like a Becky, so let’s go with that. How do I force my whole life to fit into this 30 second bubble you’ve given me? Maybe your life is boring enough that you’re able to but I’m a well-rounded individual. I am a competitive dog-petter, with a record of 74 “good boys” a minute. I am the current national Naruto running champion. (It’s all about the form and making yourself as aerodynamically crouched as possible.) I am a lip balm enthusiast, who holds the unpopular opinion that EOS eggs are overrated and overpriced. I am a legendary cartoon con...

I remember, that for the longest time I was not comfortable with my body. I would feel so out of place standing next to the little white girls in my class. They had soft, blonde hair that flowed in the wind, while I had unruly black curls, that my mother had to snatch into braids on the weekends. When we would stand in line to leave class, I would compare my thick sturdy thighs to their slim ones. I remember that, around those girls I never felt pretty. I’d look at them and suddenly I’d feel blocky and unattractive, almost like an ogre. When boys were added into the equation, I felt like I was thrown into a constant battle for their affection. What chance could I stand in getting my crush’s attention against these girls? Looking in the mirror at my brown skin, frizzy hair, and chubby face all I could feel was pain and disappointment. For years I felt like my blackness was a restriction on my beauty. It was something that stopped me from truly being beautiful - from being on the same...

i am not the color of bones or a luminescent smile you won't forget or the pair of pearl earrings your grandmother gave you on your 18th birthday i am not the color of pure white snow i am the color of the earth but i have never been more otherworldly i am messy like dirt, but i can give life in it's most beautiful form i am unstable like tectonic plates but my shoulders hold up more weight than you can imagine i am unknown and untouched like the vast outer space but i have galaxies and stars and stories laced between my fingers tangled in my untamable hair intertwined throughout my whole being no, i am not the type of purity you are looking for i have histories and stories adventures you wouldn't dare to begin right here on my skin its a shame you can't see the magic through my veins because it's right here it's always been right here

TRIGGER WARING!!! "She's too dark for that color" "I hope my daughter isn't dark skin" "WHERE THE FOREIGN HO*S AT?? "  I was born a dark skin girl. All my life I heard that I could not do a specific thing because of my skin color.  It isn't fair that my dark skin sisters are getting shamed just because our skin isn't what people find "attractive". Why must we get the short end of the stick? Every minute of everyday we must endure shallow compliments like " Aw you're very pretty for a dark skin gir l " You're actually telling me that dark skin girls aren't attractive but hey I'm an exception. People actually believe that's a compliment.  Well sorry to break it to you but that really isn't. The media doesn't help either, my features are only  glamorized when it is needed as a ghetto, loud, colorful side kick in movies.  The light skin woman is portrayed as prettier, nicer, ...

***The following contains sensitive material such as rape, trauma and abuse, please read with caution.*** Social media, such as instagram, twitter, tumblr, and snapchat once a diary to my well known friend became a place she wanted to avoid. The girl who blogged and inspired, while spilling out her guts to anxious and loyal readers, became the girl who posted once a week on tumblr. The girl who snapped a picture of her favorite part from a novel, then shared it on instagram with a quite informative and descriptive opinion every once a while, now became absent. The girl who shared her best and happiest moments with us every weekend became a text poster only consisting of heartbroken emojis and texts that read "No one knows."  What did she know that broke her up this much that we didn't? She'd been down and absent for months until Friday at  2:07 am . Her blog notified me that she posted a text titled; "When He Followed Me On Snapchat" He? There was...