Colorism is the prejudice or discrimination against people with a dark skin tone, usually among people of the same ethnic or racial group however can venture across many different groups. It’s not new nor has it been abolished. However, in any ways it is trying to be, and a form of deconstructing its harmfulness is the journey of self-love and appreciation, despite the struggles it brings.
Look at my dark skin
Isn’t is so lovely?
The tenures of its birth
Blend like flows of velvet
Satin streaming
as it takes on the brilliance of sun
And mirrors the mysteriousness of moon
Look at my dark skin
Isn’t it so lovely?
How against clouds it is the stark
Foundation of trees
That grow from rich soil that breathes life
about the earth
Clearing the air
Cleaning the water
It imitates nature
as it is one with it
Look at my dark skin
Isn’t it so lovely?
It does not seem to be loved
Despite attributes of loveliness
It is neglected
Though some wish to have the beauty it brings
Hoping rays of light will grant them
What they have not
It is rebellious
Fighting standards that
act as barriers
Look at my dark skin
Isn’t it so lovely?
Do not be deterred by their hatred
Dear obsidian and hickory
Your worth cracks and breaks it
Watch it crumble at their feet
As they stand ashen in their shame
The spitefulness it receives
Matches none to the brilliance you believe of it
– Daneia Russell (2017)
