White hair; My Nana did care!
Tania Chandler,
Upper Marlboro, MD
I remember when I was about 8 years old, I told my grandmother that I wished I had hair like white people. I thought they were the only people that could have long flowing hair instead of the tight coils that I had as a black girl. She was furious!! She told me don’t EVER say that again. Those word still sting today like it just happened. I’m 56. She said our hair was beautiful and so were we.
American School Counselor Association Conference
Black Is Beautiful, Never Second Guess
Veijah Johnson,
Dillard University
Growing up, I’ve always seen different shades of African Americans. I sometimes wondered why I couldn’t have a lighter complexion, seeing how much attention those who do, get. Now, I know that regardless of the shade, I am beautiful as well as everyone else.
Being Black is beautiful, even when (no one else thinks so)
Keriana Rogers,
New Orleans, LA
Growing up, understanding that my black was beautiful no matter the circumstances was hard. Now that I’m older I embrace it. Even the trauma that came with it.
They Teach Us Black Isn’t Beautiful
JaNya,
Chicago, IL
Everything about being black is beautiful but society tries so hard to teach us that it’s not.
Denial’s not (just) a river in Africa!
Bruce B. Rush,
Philadelphia, PA
I grew up in a generation where I lived through & was influenced greatly by expressions like “Say It Loud, I’m Black & I’m Proud,” and “Black Is Beautiful.” I wouldn’t want it any other way! At this stage of my life, I draw strength & inspiration from this line of the famous poem, “Invictus:” “…I thank whatever Gods may be for my unconquerable soul…”
Privileged, What exactly does that MEAN?!?
Janet Davis,
Huntsville, AL.
I live in the South where we have always had a larger black population as long as I can remember & we have always gotten along. It’s insulting when I see so many people talking about the Southern states being such a hotbed of racists. No place is perfect, but I doubt the South is worse than other places I’ve seen. And stop saying reverse racism doesn’t exist, it does. I have redhair and am very pale, I lost track of the # of times black students in my high school classes, would sing-song in front of the other students mind you & aimed at me exclusively because I was so pale the following rhyme:
Black is beautiful,
Brown is tan,
Your white skin is ugly like the Klu Klux Klan.
No one has a right to torment others because of the roll of the hereditary dice. No matter what another white person has done to you, you have no right to take it out on every white person you see. That makes about as much sense as a white person taking out their prejudice on all blacks they see. I was a shy, quiet student who kept to myself & I was taunted & teased because of something I had no control over, my skin color. Because I’m white, it’s considered justice. If I were black, people would be angry.
It’s a distinction that few are willing to recognize or understand & immediately dismiss. To many, Black People attacking white people is justice, despite the fact that the white person being attacked likely has a 0% chance of having ANYTHING to do with what they’re angry about.
If we are going to discuss race, it helps if we are being honest with ourselves. The saying, “ Two wrongs don’t make a right?” Why doesn’t it apply here? I’m tired of being accused of things because of something I had nothing to do with, my skin color. I also have a son & as he is a white male, he is public enemy #1, for no other reason than the fact that he is white & male. The fact that this is an acceptable train of thought by a lot of white, feminist Americans is really sad to me. They want my son to fail for those 2 reasons, both being things he couldn’t control.
My Black IS Beautiful
Rae Winfrey,
Chicago, IL.
It is so satisfying that black beauty is now viewed as a compliment and not an insult. Where we embrace our culture and not try to hide it or be something else. From the kinky coils in my hair from my tired feet from walking all day, my black is still beautiful and no man, women, boy or girl is going to tell me otherwise.
Mommy, why wasn’t I born white?
Victoria Finney
Cambridge, MA
I still remember how upset she was when I asked her this. Like I had said something wrong that I shouldn’t have. Like I had failed a test somehow.
“Tori, aren’t you happy with the way you are? You are beautiful; black is beautiful.”
Why is she saying this? Why does she look so mad? I just want my hair to be like my friends’ hair in my class… so nice and straight and flat and easy. I’m tired of people tryna yank it out every stinking morning.
“No, mommy, I just wanna be like everyone else, like my friends in school!” That is when I started crying. And mommy looked so helpless, like she had done something wrong. And for the first time I felt ashamed for wishing I was different.
“No, Tori. You were born the way you are and you can’t change the way you are. You have to love who you are.” This wasn’t exactly the easiest concept to teach to a six-year-old. I bawled harder and she just held me in that way that mothers do to make all the bad in the world go away. A few weeks later, we went to the hair dresser and I got my first relaxer. It burned. My best friend at school asked me how I got the weeds out. I was just happy to be normal.
It took a few more years of being *the token* for me to appreciate who I really was. I love my mother. And I love this colorful life that she gave to me.
My Black is Beautiful
Gwen Powell,
Chula Vista, CA.
Dear Grandma, Brown is Beautiful too.
Aliza Hirani
Ann Arbor, MI
My grandparents often travel from Pakistan to come visit my family once or twice a year. Growing up, my grandma would bring me tubes of “Fair & Lovely” lotion. It is a lotion that apparently bleaches your skin to make it “whiter”. It felt like brown beauty wasn’t good enough. It sent a message that said that beauty is something you achieve instead of something you already have. It was a message that said the standard I had to strive for was that of a White woman. There is this colonial mentality surrounding beauty that sends women the message that white beauty is the only real beauty. American media perpetuates this by under-representing women of color. When women of color are finally represented, they are the supportive side friend, the hired help, or the exotic/troublemaking woman. We need another cultural movement like the 1960s “Black is Beautiful” movement. Maybe, “Color is Cute”…okay so the slogan could use some work. But, I choose to reject the cycle of socialization that tells us that people of color’s natural features and skin color is inferior or less attractive than those of Whites. My grandmother still visits and brings tubes of Fair&Lovely in hopes that my younger cousins will start using it. I just grab the bottles from their hands and shake my head letting them know they don’t need to be white to be lovely.
