Confidence in your own skin is something that women of color wait for too long. It is time to change that and accept the beauty within our skin.
Remember the whole #teamlightskin vs. #teamdarkskin thing? A battle of colorism that had everyone taking sides. It was upsetting to see people of color fighting amongst themselves when our skin has always been less beautiful than white skin. Instead of uniting ourselves, we were hating ourselves and each other.
Growing up, I lived in a predominately white suburban neighborhood where there was only a handful of other black families. Sitting in class there was either one or two other black kids in my class. Most of the time I was the only one. Rarely ever did I see people that shared the same skin tone of me and it made me feel like some kind of outsider. I felt ugly, ashamed to be in my own skin. Every time I would google any type of style or fashion, I would always see pale white skinned people. I began to think only white people looked good in that type of style or that it wasn’t for me because I was dark.
I wanted to lighten my skin and I would google ways of how I could DIY my own skin lighter. The main reason why I started wearing sun screen was because I was afraid of getting darker. I used to imagine how much prettier and easier my life would be if I was at least lighter than my original skin tone if not White.
It took me all the way up to college to see the beauty in being a black dark-skinned woman. The same unfortunately goes for far too many. Truth be told, I’m still am learning how to fully love and accept my skin.
So, to all my dark-skinned sisters, you are the essence of beauty. Your skin is so loved by the sun that it’s rays cannot help but to kiss you. The moon shines down to illuminate your glory and all you’re worth. Your beauty is so expansive and such a powerful influence that others conceal in green of envy. And if no one told you today, stand in the mirror and scream for the heavens that you are beautiful.