I’ll never forget that day years ago. I was sitting on the bus and this beautiful little girl sitting next to me looked up at me and asked me why she and I were black and my sisters were white. My heart almost broke for her because she didn’t understand the difference in hues of skin color. Yes, today is one of those touchy subjects about skin color (too bad the hands of the various colors don’t touch more like this subject). This little girl and I were a darker skin tone than my younger and older sisters. I remember when I was a little kid I wished I was lighter like my sisters. For some reason I just thought I was too dark. That’s just what was in my own mind. It wasn’t until I visited my Big Mama (grandmother) one day and saw in a photo album that what my mother had told me repeatedly as a child was true, and not just something to make me feel good about my hue. In that photo album was a picture I stared at in unbelief! It had me thinking, “How did I step back in time to be in this black and white photo?” I saw a reflection of myself; my mother really was dark! She was born and raised down south and constantly told me that her skin only lightened after she left the south. So, along with all the other things she would tell me about who I was as a person, she really wasn’t just trying to make me feel good. I don’t know exactly when it happened, but somewhere over time my darker hue stopped becoming an issue for me in my childhood. As a matter of fact, I was once asked by someone whether or not I would ever get a tattoo. They might as well have asked me would I like to have my body permanently painted. The thought of marring any part of this hue in my skin depresses me. I am thankful for the hue of my skin; I love the tone in my color. And whether you are Caucasian, Asian, African, etc. be thankful for the color of your skin. Be thankful for the various hues we find in mankind. We don’t all have the same shape of eyes, noses, or lips—why do we have to have the same skin color or hue within our races? What should concern us more is whether or not we all value the life of the hue that embodies it.
Monday, September 21, 2015
Days of PURPOSEFUL Thankfulness – Day #59
Note: Refer to day number 1 (July 25, 2015 post) if you
don’t know what this is all about.
I’ll never forget that day years ago. I was sitting on the bus and this beautiful little girl sitting next to me looked up at me and asked me why she and I were black and my sisters were white. My heart almost broke for her because she didn’t understand the difference in hues of skin color. Yes, today is one of those touchy subjects about skin color (too bad the hands of the various colors don’t touch more like this subject). This little girl and I were a darker skin tone than my younger and older sisters. I remember when I was a little kid I wished I was lighter like my sisters. For some reason I just thought I was too dark. That’s just what was in my own mind. It wasn’t until I visited my Big Mama (grandmother) one day and saw in a photo album that what my mother had told me repeatedly as a child was true, and not just something to make me feel good about my hue. In that photo album was a picture I stared at in unbelief! It had me thinking, “How did I step back in time to be in this black and white photo?” I saw a reflection of myself; my mother really was dark! She was born and raised down south and constantly told me that her skin only lightened after she left the south. So, along with all the other things she would tell me about who I was as a person, she really wasn’t just trying to make me feel good. I don’t know exactly when it happened, but somewhere over time my darker hue stopped becoming an issue for me in my childhood. As a matter of fact, I was once asked by someone whether or not I would ever get a tattoo. They might as well have asked me would I like to have my body permanently painted. The thought of marring any part of this hue in my skin depresses me. I am thankful for the hue of my skin; I love the tone in my color. And whether you are Caucasian, Asian, African, etc. be thankful for the color of your skin. Be thankful for the various hues we find in mankind. We don’t all have the same shape of eyes, noses, or lips—why do we have to have the same skin color or hue within our races? What should concern us more is whether or not we all value the life of the hue that embodies it.
I’ll never forget that day years ago. I was sitting on the bus and this beautiful little girl sitting next to me looked up at me and asked me why she and I were black and my sisters were white. My heart almost broke for her because she didn’t understand the difference in hues of skin color. Yes, today is one of those touchy subjects about skin color (too bad the hands of the various colors don’t touch more like this subject). This little girl and I were a darker skin tone than my younger and older sisters. I remember when I was a little kid I wished I was lighter like my sisters. For some reason I just thought I was too dark. That’s just what was in my own mind. It wasn’t until I visited my Big Mama (grandmother) one day and saw in a photo album that what my mother had told me repeatedly as a child was true, and not just something to make me feel good about my hue. In that photo album was a picture I stared at in unbelief! It had me thinking, “How did I step back in time to be in this black and white photo?” I saw a reflection of myself; my mother really was dark! She was born and raised down south and constantly told me that her skin only lightened after she left the south. So, along with all the other things she would tell me about who I was as a person, she really wasn’t just trying to make me feel good. I don’t know exactly when it happened, but somewhere over time my darker hue stopped becoming an issue for me in my childhood. As a matter of fact, I was once asked by someone whether or not I would ever get a tattoo. They might as well have asked me would I like to have my body permanently painted. The thought of marring any part of this hue in my skin depresses me. I am thankful for the hue of my skin; I love the tone in my color. And whether you are Caucasian, Asian, African, etc. be thankful for the color of your skin. Be thankful for the various hues we find in mankind. We don’t all have the same shape of eyes, noses, or lips—why do we have to have the same skin color or hue within our races? What should concern us more is whether or not we all value the life of the hue that embodies it.
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