Intro To MelaNAtion

“Team light skinned. No, team dark skinned, we don’t like them redbones!” Or, maybe the fact that men approach us colored girls with statements like, “you’ve got to be mixed, you’re so beautiful,” Or say, “I like you; you’re not like most black girls,” thinking they are giving complements when, in actuality, they are illustrating that racism is not only a two party system but also lingers within a single people.See, I was raised in a very conscious black household where I was surrounded by the palest of skin to skin as dark midnight, all extremely gorgeous and intelligent. And of course, as all children do, I believe my mother is one of the most beautiful and most knowledgeable people in the world. But, because of her Beautiful brown skin complextion she would have been denied privileges some one of my fair tone or lighter would be granted. This form of discrimnation is called Colorism.

Colorism is privileging lighter skin people of color over darker skinned of color in areas such as income, housing, and education. They also serve 12% less prison sentences over their darker counterpart and are even preferred over darker women in marriage. Colorism is stereotyping dark-skins to be obnoxious, ignorant, and have nappy hair and light skins to be stuck-up, superficial, and naive to injustices. This is absurd because both are still classified a Black, both are beautiful, and both are extremely intelligent. In fact, black women are considered the most educated woman in the U.S. But because of degrading prejudices many misconceptions and tensions are developed internally, and this disconnection leads to a lack of self-love and unity in the community which causes depression. In fact, only 7.6% of black women are actually treated for depression.

In order to improve my community, and in the long term unify all people, I have created Melanation (a play on the words Melanin and Nation), a blog/awareness campaign that targets this form of racism, and is not only for people of color but for all races in order to spread awarenss on this faintly know type of racism. This campaign thrives via social media and my blog will be an online magazine. People of all skin tones are highlighted, through photography, in order to illustrate the variety and beauty of all colored people. Different individuals also have their personal story posted on our pages about how colorism (their skin tone, hair texture, full lips, etc) affects them in society in order to articulate the issue of colorism in a more understandable and relatable manner. Social issues and movements related to colorism, along with article links, are also posted in order to give more detailed information and push people to do independent research. Additionally, Small local business and organizations are posted on the page in order for more people to get involved the community. I also do public speaking and radio discussions related to the issue.

As I have grown and experienced people I have begun to ask myself, why do beautiful dark-skinned girls approach me wishing they were the color of my skin when theirs is just breathtaking? Why does media portray beauty as a fair skinned individual? Why are my black men denied a job because they “Look” Dangerous?Skin does NOT determine capability! And, as a leader, I will not stop until all people realize their Melanin Matters whether there as pale as snow or as dark as a clear night sky. My main goal is to implement more love and unity in the environment, for if one race is destroyed internally and others are not aware of the issue people cannot unite as a whole.