Berry Juice
Beauty
Is in the eyes of the beholder
But in a world in which a beholder does not exist, beauty can not but be held by the regale lifestyle that is of high demand in this thing called society.
I'm not talking about the vogue society that says long legs yes, but curves need less because for the majority of us, that's not a reality.
No.
I'm talking about the society that says long legs yes, but melanin less.
The one in which the phrase "you're cute, for a dark skin," is uttered so often that the idea of it being a compliment is a thought that only the vacuous soul would dare to think.
Over and over again
We
As the black society
Allow ourselves to be controlled by the past in which there were no morality.
Where those of darker complexion labored in the sun
Where those of the lighter complexion labored indoors
Lest he
The darker skin
Was subjugated to more of a run.
But you're forgetting
Dark or light, you were still a slave.
Dark or light, you were and still will be discriminated against
So why is being light skinned all the crave?
Naomi Campbell
Tyra Banks
Jourdan Dunn.
Icons in the fashion industry
Women who girls aspire to be.
Women who, by your definition, should not be cute since they are after all,
dark skinned.
Lupita Nyong
Alek Wek
Ataiu Deng
It doesn't get any sweeter
Barely.
My mother told me
"Beauty is on the inside"
So I
grab a knife-
A product of my environment they say-
And hold the blade to my chest
The pen is mightier than the sword
Yet it is the sword that exposes my heart
As the blood I bleed
Paints the picture of who I am
It is my soul that I bleed
And the words I speak
The words you read
are the fragments of me,
my identity
that I shed and leave behind.
How does the completion of my skin determine my beauty?
How does the completion of my skin determine my integrity?
How does the completion of my skin determine my dexterity?
My strengths?
My weakness?
My intelligence?
Why should skin color be keen in determining whether or not you deem the beauty that naturally radiates from my lips
My hips
From my toe
Up to my fingertips,
worth of your time?
I am not my hair
I am not my skin
And I'd be damned if I allowed myself to be defined your expectations.
No!
I am not just a body
anybody
I am a soul
I am the very definition of power
empowerment
I am beautiful because I am me
Not you
Not her
Not because of the shoes
I place on my feet
Or the crown I wear upon my head
But because of what is held in high esteem on the sides
of my deepest depths.
In my highest horizons
My thoughts
I sheild
With Kinks and turns
With curls not perms
A thick fortress
I bestow upon my nape
A defense against the
dead souls
Whom beauty is all they aspire to be
But what good are my thoughts
If in my head they stay
Bubbling, groaning
Wanting to escape
I expose,
Not only my heart,
But my mind and soul,
I am a victim
My decapitated body lays
Yet how is it that they hang me?
A headshot to my headless body
But I am not lifeless.
For I am not you,
I am not
her,
I am not my
skin,
nor my hair.
I am not
defined by my environment,
or the
clothes I wear.
The way I
speak is an inaccurate reflection of the accuracy that is me,
I am Me.
A Woman,
A Nigerian
Woman,
A Young,
Independent Nigerian Woman.
A Young
Independent Nigerian Woman who defies each and every Label placed upon her.
I am
Me.