very black.

The Black skin is not a badge of shame, but rather a glorious symbol of national greatness."

- Marcus Garvey 

It's amazing how much outward appearance can control the emotions of others. It's also amazing how complete acceptance of self (flaws and all) makes other people around you uncomfortable. It speaks volumes to me actually. For whatever reason the world has conditioned people to be constantly apologetic for who they are, and loving themselves unconditionally. I suppose we have the world's misconstrued ideals of what defines beauty to thank for that. It's easy to say you won't let those ideals affect how you think of yourself, but it's extremely hard to go against things that have been ingrained in your reality since birth. 

As of late, the black community all over the world has been openly talking about us embracing the very thing that has made our ancestors ashamed of who they were. We've been openly discussing who we really are, and not who the world thinks we are. I like the discussion. I welcome it always on my social media channels and so on. In fact, I incorporate these same discussions in my photography and art on my instagram page as much as I can. I think it's very important that we make people aware of how we feel and how we want them to see us. I always say it's better to tell the world who you are instead of letting the world define you because most of the time they will define you incorrectly. Some people think this new found focus on embracing blackness is "too intense" for social media and they think it's something people take "too seriously". 

My response to those people is simple:

Slavery was intense. Racism was and still is intense. Racial profiling is intense. Injustice is intense. It's real. Our community has suffered loss after loss because of this intensiveness and how dare you make us feel like we take ourselves and our history "too seriously". Ladies and gentlemen that is the only way to take yourself and your history - seriously. And if you feel like "we talk too much about being black" well then I suggest you, delete your social media and keep to yourself, because this is only the beginning of the conversation, and those who are passionate about representing our community to the best of their abilities, will never stop. 

Now I don't want to be misread in this piece. Being black is only part of who I am. It's only part of who we are as a community. There is so much more to the black race than melanin. What I am saying is that there is an importance for discussion of our blackness because for so long, that topic has been swept under a rug and it's been treated like the elephant in the room no one was brave enough to point out. To those who become uncomfortable because of race talks, work on getting comfortable. And I mean that in the most caring way possible. To those who are courageous enough to face racial tensions by openly discussing it, I applaud you and I back you. There's nothing more beautiful to me than when people stand up for themselves and are brave enough to tell the world who they are. I guess this piece itself is my own way of saying which side of the fence I stand on. It will never matter what else is going in the world, I will always be very proud of being very black.

01.22.2016

Love, Kamilah.