YOU'RE PRETTY....FOR A DARK SKINNED GIRL

THOSE THAT KNOW ME PERSONALLY,BEFORE READING THIS REMEMBER I AM A BLACK WOMAN BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE! THESE ARE JUST MY EXPERIENCES AND OPINIONS DON'T TAKE OFFENSE,IF YOU DO...YOU OBVIOUSLY DON'T KNOW ME LIKE YOU THOUGHT YOU DID AND SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN PRESENT IN THE 1ST PLACE!


THIS VIDEO IS FROM AUGUST 4 2009 (and to think, they tell me I make something out of nothing ):












In just 10days before the turn of the decade,Brown skin v Light Skin is still an issue in the African American community. It's a damn shame,because regardless, to any other race when they look at us,whether light,carmel,brown,or amethyst,they see a BLACK PERSON!!! So I'm not sure who told my community that being proud that they are lighter with a "better" grade of hair makes them better than the race. Well NEWS FLASH ingrates,listen up I have a few things to say.


Light skin being considered "better" derives from slavery. The slave masters brainwashed their slaves into thinking if they looked more like them,then they were better. In fact lighter skinned slaves were often referred to as 'house slaves',while the darker complected slaves were known as 'field slaves'. Differences being exactly what the terms imply. Lighter slaves worked in and lived in the house with the master because they were considered of a better breed. Darker slaves were subjected to more appalling living conditions outside with poor shelter from the weather and its sometimes not so friendly conditions.

Light skinned slaves were also more accepted because often times they were bi-racial.The African-American women as a whole were raped by their slavemasters to reproduce more slaves. The product of an African-American and Caucasian... is a light,curly head baby. Which was then used as yet another tool to beat and tear the race apart. It was as if the punk ass slave owners yelled from their highest plantation porch step and said 'Hey dark niggers,you see this light skinned,curly headed half nigger?? well he's better than you because he has some me in him and we'll be sure to remind you of that every day for the rest of history!!!!!!!!!!" The life of Dorothy Dandridge and John M. Stahl's 1934 'Imitation of Life' are the perfect references to what,I am speaking of.

Some may say why does this 24yr old milk-chocolate young woman have such a disposition on something that happened so many years before her existence? Almost a BlackPantherness to her. Answer: it's not something that only happened previous to my existence,and I AM a Black Panther born in the wrong era. Picture it Omaha,NE 1997a group of 4 light skinned 'popular chicks' in my jr high tell me "i'm not sh!t because i'm not light skinned with hair" they tell my bf at the time right in front of me "why are you with her,she is black,and ugly and has no hair" THIS IS 1997 PEOPLE!!! Previous to that debocale,I'd NEVER encountered such bullshit in my life!! I mean I was 12 years old so by this time I had interacted with my fair share of 'redbones' (another term uesd by my community to describe a 'yellowbone' or light skinned person). I'd even been told "you're pretty for a dark-skinned girl" (whatever the hell that means). However this was something new to me. How was I to react to that? I didn't know how,so I resorted to what has always worked for me...I'll just hate you and anything like you until I can hate no more!!!

The day finally did come,about 3yrs ago. When I woke up one morning and realized I was a be-a-youtiful Black woman. When you begin to love yourself,to hate anyone else for any reason other than rape or murder seems childish. However previous to the love I found within myself,for myself,I hated light skinned women so much for a long time.One time in 11th grade I told a group of 3 light skinned girls "i hated them,and i'd beat all they asses right here right now,just off gp of them being light skinned" my friends stared at me in such amazment,but not one dared to say anything to go against what I was saying at the time,for they knew just how serious I was and how deeply effected I had been by the situation 4years earlier.It was something that never left my mind, something that always hurt. The ironic thing of it all is that throughout that time period of me despising light skinned women, I only dated light skinned men. Not on purpose they just were always the one to grab my eye, then it dawned on me, I only wanted the yellow dudes because their counterpart made me feel like shit! Strange state of affairs in and of itself,but it was what it was.

As a supporter of DeWayne Michael Carter(Lil Wayne)'s music since his debut in the late 90's, I struggle with listening to his newer music,as it always has a reference to him being in search of a "long hair,thick,redbone". This is a disease that has been lying dormant in the African American community for decades,centuries even. Rappers like Wayne and his cohorts have just gotten the syringe and injected everyone with it. I guess I'll never understand or grasp what the mystery behind a RB is,and I'm not sure I want to. It seems like something that is so shallow,that only a fool would feed into. I wonder if Wayne knows that not even 70yrs ago companies were advertising: soap,lotions and lightening creams with slogans and headings that that were not discreet on what their intentions were. To separate and demean our race once again! Even now you can walk in Wal-Mart and go to the African-American products and there you'll find numerous "skin-lightening" products.What is that about?!?!?

My Black brothas often say they want a light skinned women so their kids will have 'good hair'. What's good hair,you ask? Hair that can be touched by water and curl as opposed to those of us with African gene that runs a little deeper,we have much maintenence for our strands. Be that as it may 'good hair' is another way to separate the community. It pains me to hear those words from the men that I've been taught to love since pampers' mouth. However all I can do is embrace my race as a whole and hope one day we will get past this severance and truly unite as a community.

Hands down BLACK IS BE-A-YOU-TIFUL! All shades, and creeds.Stop letting the man fool you! If Obama was to be thrown out of is presidency and slavery was some how brought back to life....LIGHT SKINNED PEOPLE...YOU'D BE ENSLAVED TOO. YES YOU'D BE A HOUSE SLAVE BUT ...YOU'D BE A SLAVE ALL THE SAME!!!! Stop discriminating against your own. We deal with that enough in our everyday society from those that look nothing like us. Those that have never and will never feel our struggle,ifsofactso can't match our hustle. All im sayin is we all we got out here,act like it!!!