I told you, I'm light-skinned but not ✨Lightskinned✨!!

[Anonymous]

"All rights Go to the Owner and Creator of Picture Above''

Before we get into it...I owe a back story. I'm from an Island in The West Indies. For my privacy, I'm going Anon. My mother is White and My Father is Black. When I was in the seventh grade, I was taught slavery. Not for the first time. My Social Studies teacher was talking about the term "mulatto". She turned to me and asked me "are you mixed with black and white?" I answered faintly and said "Yes mam" she used me as an example. See people like me, worked inside because we were of a lighter complexion while the ones with a darker complexion worked outside during slavery. When I heard this I became insecure and I felt horrible. I became ashamed of my skin color. I started to reflect more on my life and my parents. Basically, my mom's ancestors treated my dad's ancestors unfairly. From seventh grade to eighth grade I started to wonder how come my teacher only asked me if I was mixed? She never met my parents, so how does she know? This question lingered in my mind for a very long time. It was like I was having an identity crisis of some sort. Then there was a segment on Disney Channel about Zendaya. Zendaya was with her parents. I then began to notice something. I began to notice that Zendaya had parents just like me. Her dad is black and her mom is white. JUST LIKE ME! I was ecstatic! I went on google and I typed in" Famous celebs with black and white parents" A bunch of photos came up and I was researching for hours. I saw people like Tia & Tamera, Cameron Boyce, Drake and etc. I was happy because there were other people like me in the world with the exception of my brother and sisters. I was proud of myself and I accepted myself...but that changed. I struggled with my hair. When I was in the tenth grade I relaxed my hair. I hated my hair. It wasn't my mom or any of my peers who encouraged me...it was me. I wanted straight long hair that could go into a high ponytail and blow in the wind. When I permed my hair I lost my Identity. Do you want to know why? it's because without my "Curly light brown hair" I was just a light skin, not a ✨Lightskin✨. If you ask a black guy if they prefer Lightskins or Darkskins, He would always say "A light skin girl with curly hair"(Not all black men are like this) I remember there was this one public interview at my school. This girl asked Light skins or dark skins to this guy, you know what they regularly ask. He said that he would only date a light skin if they looked like Zendaya and a dark skin if they looked like Diamond White. Don't get me wrong diamond white is beautiful and Zendaya is too. But you are telling me you'll only date black women if they are above average looking? The last time I checked all black women are beautiful! As I transition from teenage-hood to adult-hood, I had to write about this to let black young women know you don't have to have curly hair or green eyes to be considered attractive. Don't lower yourself to the world's standard.

[Leonharted]

I think that everyone should try to be the best version of themselves, both physically and mentally. Nobody should be ashamed of who they are or what they do/think, so long as they are putting their best foot forward. If you want curly hair, and think that makes you feel like your best self, you should absolutely do that. But if you think you look better by putting coconut oil in your hair to straighten it, then do that!

If you're not sure which looks best, you can always asked trusted friends.