“Don’t act your color”? We’re radiant!
Avis Danette Matthews, Glenarden, MD “Don’t act your color.” I recall hearing that phrase a lot while growing up in the ’60s in Prince George’s...
Small Ohio Town: Color Didn’t Matter
Debbie Spragg Brisentine Plain City, OH I was born in 1954, lived in Mt. Pleasant Ohio, pop. approx. 500. Attended school from 1959-1972. Had both...
My color does not define me
Ryan williams, Grand Blanc, MI As a black man in America I am expected to be multiple things. Unsophisticated, not smart, ghetto, unprofessional and unethical....
Color is a mask you’ve made
Sarah Samuels, Rockville, MD I am a member of Montgomery College’s “ACES Ambassador Leadership Program” AAL Each of our 24 students decided it was important...
See my color. I see yours.
Florencetine Bourne Jasmin, Gwynn Oak, MD. My response to those who say, “I don’t see color.” But I need you to see my color. It...
I will never be black enough.
Janeen Irving, San Leandro, CA. For the first 12 years of my life I was clueless to my own color (or lack thereof) growing up...
Think you cute because you’re lightskin?
Kwazi Owens Washington, DC I see so much divisiveness among black women due to colorism. I remember growing up and girls automatically not liking me...
Color doesn’t change who you are
Rahul Chalumuri, Durham, NH The University System of New Hampshire The color of your skin shouldn’t change who you are, or who you want to...
Color doesn’t change who you are
Lindsey Einck, Primghar, IA South O’brien. Color doesn’t change who you are. Your color of your skin shouldn’t make you any different than anyone else.
A transnational adoptee, consumed by “in-betweenity.”
Rebecca York, Takoma Park, MD Fighting for visibility and validity, in white and of-color spaces is perpetually exhausting. Transnational adoptees are at the heart of...
More colors more stories more gratitude
Penny Shaff Altman, Portland, ME. My father told me stories drawn from his childhood in the Ukraine. My mother told me stories about her life...
The difference is culture, not color.
Brenda Ward, Schaumburg, IL. The color of our skin has nothing to do with who we are. It is where we live, who raises us,...
I’m sorry I’m staring at you.
Jessica Flake, Amelia, OH I work as a demo’s assistant at an international grocery store which will not be named for advertising purposes. Being in...
What’s the point when color fades
Spencer, Wilmington, NC. Everyone dies. And when we do die, there will be no color, just bones and dirt. It’s funny that race is so...
People of Quality Respect Race Equality
Saheba Cuccia, New Orleans, LA. Aspen X Adopted and raised in the South, I have seen and heard of the racial barriers that some people...
I LOVE THE SKIN I’M IN
Athena White, Chicago, IL. Embrace the power of love for it has no color. Teach others that lack this purity and watch how well it...
Not a color, but God’s child
Sabrina Tilley, Hutchins, TX Student at Dallas County Community College District, Eastfield College
