To Those Chocolate Ones
Obviously I’ve never been a shade darker than caramel.
Names taunting my skin color were never heard.
And the tone is one over envied and too popular.
But I love your chocolate skin.
I wish there was someway to tell you.
Bulletin, ad, commercial flashing “chocolate skin rocks!”
But ignorance often smothers my admiration.
Blind words and “canned” influences keep cutting me off.
But I love your chocolate skin.
Please forgive the “blind” and “conditioned”
The ones who just don’t know
The ones too far gone to enjoy the diversity
The fools who just can’t see what some of us can’t get enough of.
But I love your chocolate skin.
“Be happy in your skin”
A phrase I know sometimes means nothing
Coming from this spectrum of “black”
Don’t change it, don’t lighten it, don’t hate it, or disrespect it
God loves diversity and some just don’t get it.
Be patient and look beyond.
Even if maybe this is the first time you heard love of your tone
Know someone loves your chocolate skin.
-This is influenced by an article I read about skin bleaching in a country in Africa. It was banned by law and now people are buying it illegally, burning and infecting their beautiful skin tones. You know that something is seriously wrong when people of the sun, people of the continent where human life found its start, people of a continent with so many wonders can’t even find contentment in their own skin.
I love chocolate too
Hey Qonjo,
love your post. Yes I love the chocolate ones along with all of our
beautiful hues. For me the blacker the berry, the sweeter
the juice.
peace n light,
Lindiwe
Sister Caramel
Sister Caramel
thank you for recognizing what the gods and goddesses made for the world to see
my skin
is chocolate
even have brown freckles on the white part of my eyes
yea, I'm so black
love it too
one of the lucky ones...told i was gorgeous from birth
even prettier with gods light shining through
my sister sister is yellowish brown like you and we love beyond the rainbow of colors
Being Black, red, brown, high yella, we've all been beaten til we black and blue
Still....I salute you for saying what is not always said
Here's my dedication to you:
don't change. folks will call you names
and try to burn away your blackness too.
Close your eyes
and imagine darkness smiling right back at you...
the bleaching cream phenomenon is ill. The color complex is real. I made a short documentary about it two yrs ago that examines it's manifestations in Texas rap: 'Colour Me Bad: Third Coast Hip Hop
keep up the good work, star.
A Beautiful Sentiment!
What a beautiful spirit you carry! I hope you will post this BEAUTIFUL sentiment everywhere you can.Thanks for acknowledging and appreciating how wonderfully,delicious we are.It's soo nice to be referred to as chocolate from my Carmel sisters for a change other than "Black".Peace, Indigo
I'm luvin it
you got crazy skillz mama .. I'm caramel but I luv a choc man. ATTITUDE GYAL
chocolate
this is one of the most beautiful and heartfelt things i have read in a long time...i LOVE chocolate...thank you for reminding us of the beauty and delicacy of chocolate...blessings!
ms. tosh
Po-wer-ful!
Sis, I absolutely loooove this piece! Your poetic expression of love for dark skin is beautiful...and much appreciated by this dark chocolate sistah!
Unfortunately, skin bleaching is a problem in Africa. This should not shock us, however, because all of us Africans around the world have been brainwashed by images of European beauty...whether we know it/or admit it or not. Be it skin bleaching, or hair perms and weaves, it is all the same. The method doesn't really matter, as the end result is still the same: black beauty, watered down by some form of pseudo-whiteness. No disrespect to the sistahs who perm, by the way...this is just my humble opinion.
When we know ourselves, we can begin to love ourselves...as we are. Give thanks for this piece, sis! Keep speaking truth, and spreading love through your words!
Bless
That's What I Thought...
I actually had a really heated debate with a co-worker regarding the article. I was saying that there is something seriously wrong with the tight, widespread European perception of beauty and how "effective" it is when there are people living in a country of darker tones (I actually don't know if it is safe for me to say that because I havnt been yet) not confortable with their complexision to want to change it to the point of jepordizing health. My co-worker was saying if there are things available to make changes then there is no problem with changing it, it's a personal choice. I was thinking, but changing the skin and texture of your hair, something is seriously wrong with that. I could go on forever about this issue, but thank you soo much for checking out my piece and providing your knowledge.