B.L.V.C.K

Some people believe tributes to black skin are exaggerated, and I am saying some people because it’s not only non-black who are concerned; even black people sometimes believe that. Maybe we’re just overdoing it, maybe it is too much, maybe we should stop being so dramatic. Well, I am sorry you guys just gonna have to suck it up. No, I was not a slave, nobody in my family (that I know of) ever was a slave. But let’s stop playing with words and face the reality for a second. That reality is: racism never died. People still see black skin as a weakness, a problem, a burden. I met this amazing black girl here in Switzerland, who is my age and grew up here. That girl spent her childhood being ashamed of her skin’s colour because kids would always call her « caca noir » which I can best translate as « black shit ». Although she outgrew them and now knows they were the problem, they were crazy ones; she’s still insecure about her skin. Until this day she still feels like something is wrong with her. How can I blame her for feeling that way? How can anybody say she’s being dramatic? More importantly, how can I keep silence? Can you imagine the pain she must have been through as a child? And till this day? Going to that same place every day and hearing awful things about things you can’t change? How can we shut up?

It is okay for a kid to be ignorant at first, it is not okay for a parent to concede that malarkey.

The struggle for a woman to make her way to the top is real and huge. Now add a black skin? It’s not a struggle anymore, it’s a war you’re withstanding unarmed!

I have the right and duty to be proud of my story, I have the right and duty to be proud of my skin. I will not shut up, not today, not ever.

You should be proud of your colour. Your colour is your strength.

Black is powerful. Black is brave. Black has history. Black is a culture. Black is something they can never take away from you. Black is pride. Black is honour. Black is beautiful.

Be proud of your skin, be proud of your culture, be proud of your hair. They don’t like that afro? Not your problem sister. You rock your natural hair as much as you want. Let it grow as high as possible. That afro is powerful, that afro screams how proud you are to be black. That sound is disturbing them, make it louder.