Brown
Brown.
The complexion of my flesh is loathed by so many chauvinist beings daily because of their upbringing.
Coils.
Bouncing up and down, dangling across the ends of our eyelashes in our dreams, but never being able to become reality because it’s too ‘distracting’ and all girls should have straight hair to be pretty.
That’s what society advertises.
A Hoodie.
Neither I or the people that I categorize myself with, can even think about going anywhere with a black hoodie, we may be “up to no good or on drugs”, being pronounced dead at the scene. RIP Trayvon Martin.
Extensions, weave.
We’re “fake” or don’t know how to “grow our own hair” if we don’t wear the hair we were born with.
2 kids, 2 different dads.
Being shunned & being a “whore” if a mother has a kid that’s Mexican & African American, & another that’s Caucasian & African American.
A mall, a grocery store.
Followed down aisles 3 & 4; side-eyed everytime you pick up that Valentino dress or those nice True Religions.
Fruit.
Somehow every time an African American’s lips meet the Watermelon, it’s because everyone knows we all like it because of our color.
Food Stamps, government aid.
Because we don’t have jobs and too many kids, we depend on the government & your taxes to get us along through life.
Marijuana.
Rolling up or packing kush is done on a daily because we “don’t have anything else better to do in life”.
Big lips.
They’re always dry & cracked because we have poor hygiene & don’t have our own money to simply pay for a tube of chapstick.
Running.
Our legs are so long & skinny because we were born to steal things from stores & bolt. They’re also like this, because we were automatically born to be a basketball player. When you ask us if we play on a team & we say no, you’re first reaction is to automatically tell us, “What a waste of height, you should be putting those legs to great work.”
Slang.
All of us were educated poorly & so you expect us to all talk ghetto. You’re surprised when you hear us talk full sentences & full words.
You see us as a ‘white black girl’ or a ‘white black man’ if we don’t live up to these standards.
Because of all these things that we are & all these things we ALL do, we’re still referred to as “niggers”.
No, we will not let small things like this breeze past us.
We will not let the things you think or think we do affect the way we live & you WILL have repercussions.
We will make you feel foolish & you will laugh at the lens you look through towards us, the African Americans.
Brown.
Just the complexion of our skin, nothing more.
Coils.
Beautiful, bouncy curls that take FOREVER to perfect. Product applied to product, dollars on top of dollars, because it’s dedication and money to be “natural”. We don’t NEED straight hair to be beautiful, we NEED to be proud of the hair we were born with. Shame on you for making my sisters want to chemically alter their hair to “fit in”.
A Hoodie.
A clothing item made out of any type of fabric, commonly worn when it’s a bit chilly out, but a winter coat is too much.Extensions, weave.
Different types of hairstyles that are typically worn by African Americans: A, because our hair can’t be chemically manipulated all the time because, B we don’t want to ruin these gorgeous locks of ours.
2 kids, 2 different dads.
A woman falling in love with 2 of the wrong guys, but coming out of both situations with two beautiful children.
A mall, a grocery store.
To go pick groceries up to surprise his wife with a fancy home-cooked dinner, & a woman finally treating herself to something nice, suppose some jewelry after she just finished high school while raising a child.
Fruit.
Watermelon just being a snack that is well-liked within every race, but that doesn’t mean every one of us automatically LOVES that snack.
Food Stamps, government aid.
Just a couple helpful programs ran by the government that decided to help that African American woman that is raising those 2 kids on her own.
Marijuana.
A drug used by 16% of African Americans & about 14% of Caucasians in the US in 2014; therefore, only 2% more of us use it more than you.
Big Lips.
We’ve had them since the day we were born, and they’re not going anywhere. We use these big lips to discuss problems like these, to take a stand for what we know is right.
Running.
These long legs are just another unique aspect to our special bodies.
Slang.
Not all of us grew up in the ghetto, so therefore, do not expect to hear something ghetto come out of our mouths the first time you meet us. So, pick your jaws up off the floor, some of us were well educated on the English language.
Race.
We are ALL one race, ONE human race. We’re all the same, but unique in our own special ways, there’s no reason to differentiate each other & tear each other down. It’s about time we all wake up & take the shields off of our eyes. It’s 2018 & no one’s going anywhere. We need to get comfortable with each other if we are going to share this land & soil we have all chose to settle upon.
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