LIGHT SKINNED DARK SKINNED

It’s not the color your skin, it’s the blood that flows within.

Back in 2012 I did a quick stint as a community organizer with the hope of seeing a reduction in gun violence in my city.  I quickly learned that although we’ve come so far as a community, we still have some work to do when it comes to healing the psychological and emotional wounds of slavery.   

One of the people I met during my recruiting told me that it was weird to hear me, a light skinned woman talk about the black struggle.  Like because I was a fair skinned woman I could not be on the same level as my melanin endowed brothers and sisters.  She blew my wig back with that.  

Obviously I know I’m light skinned.  I hear it regularly.  White woman joke me when they tan and end up a shade or two darker than me.  Black folk call me yellow and house nigga.  I get it from both sides and I ain’t even “bi-racial”.  

I think what frustrated me the most about her comment was the misconception that as a light skinned person, I have it easier.  But the truth is, it’s no easier for me than it is for her.  It’s just different.  We both deal with self-esteem issues because of our skin color.  You see she is a dark skinned woman.  She was probably made fun of because of it.  Just like me.  And probably just like me, she wished she could be a different tone.  She may have wanted to be lighter, while I wanted to be darker.  Either way, we both wanted to look in the mirror and see something other than what was staring back at us.  Same difference.  

What she don’t know is that most times I hate my skin color.  When I watch movies like 12 Years A Slave I am reminded that my skin represents the rape of an African Woman. My skin color was used as a weapon to destroy a people psychologically.  If you don’t understand what I mean by that, check out the link below. (The Clark Doll Experiment)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i20d11fGz-0 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqvJp2gXJI0

You know what really pisses me off?  When a dark skinned person wants to have kids with a light skinned person so their kids don’t have to feel like they did.  To keep it one hundred though, my mom and all her siblings married and had children with darker skinned spouses.  I guess it works both ways. 

Still, I wish I could tell every dark skinned man, woman and child how beautiful they are.  I know not all Black people have issues with their skin.  But you’d be amazed at how many do if we would just all be honest about it.  

I supposed one day it won’t matter.  Not because we’ll have become color blind or everyone becomes the same multi-ethnic culture; but because when the time is right, God will establish His kingdom and His perfect love will make us whole.