Dear Little Black Girl

Dear Little Black Girl

“With you and all of your glory, your skin is not only dark, it shines and it tells your story.”- Beyoncé

Dear little Black girl,

With your hair so thick and curly,

It sits atop your head like an elegant crown,

It tells the story of our people.

From cornrows used to hide food and show escape routes that led to freedom,

To fighting against the beauty standard forced on us

To show that Black is beautiful.

We have been pressured to assimilate, to straighten our hair,

To damage our curls in the name of those who hate us.

Do not be swayed, for there is no such thing as “good hair” and “bad hair,”

Your curls, no matter how tight or loose, are perfect as God intended.

So wear that crown proudly and stand tall.

Dear little Black girl,

With your brown skin as rich as the earth beneath our feet,

You have been taught to hate your skin, hate its darkness.

But your darkness, my love, is what makes you glow.

When we stand in the sun, its rays beam down on us,

And we shine like diamonds.

There is no color on Earth that doesn’t complement your skin

Light or dark, pastel or bold,

Each color flatters our melanin like the stars that glow in the night sky.

Your skin is so beautiful, so breathtaking.

No matter the shade, light brown or dark,

It will glow like a flame, and you burn the brightest on the darkest days.

Dear little Black girl,

With your brown eyes that sparkle like amber,

You might have, at one point, wished your eyes were blue or green.

Because the lighter eye colors were deemed “prettier”.

But there is so much beauty in your eyes, so many wonders.

In blue eyes, you see the ocean and the tides moving in and out.

In green eyes, you see gardens with flowers that bloom in the Spring.

In brown eyes? My love, there is so much beauty to behold.

In your eyes, I see pretty autumn leaves that flow in the wind.

I see gorgeous mountains that have stood tall and proud for centuries.

I see the most elegant creatures that God put on this earth,

Like the Golden Eagle, whose brown feathers carry him through the clouds.

Or a newborn fawn, with light brown fur as lovely as its mother’s.

So please, my dear girl, embrace the color of your eyes.

No matter what shade of brown they are.

Because when they catch a glint of the sun’s light,

They sparkle like the most beautiful gold gems in the world,

Showing that at your core, you are Golden.

At some point in our lives, we Black girls are taught to hate ourselves.

Our hair texture, our skin tone, our bodies,

Everything that makes us beautiful and unique.

The media paints a picture for young girls and tells us

“this is what beauty looks like.”

And for the longest time, that picture never looked like us.

Society has had a standard that was never made for us,

And yet, we were urged to follow it.

We were encouraged to damage our curls with straightening chemicals,

To use products intended to “lighten” our skin,

To wear light-colored contacts to hide our dark brown eyes,

To hate things about ourselves, like our broad noses and our curvy bodies.

The very attributes that were passed down to us from generations ago,

Before our foremothers were taken from their homes.

For so long, we have been pressured to fit into a mold

That we were never meant to fit in.

To dampen the parts that connect us to those who came before us.

And if we chose not to? Then we were seen as “ugly.”

Or even worse-”pretty for a Black girl.”

Well, my love, let me be the first to tell you- you were never the problem.

You were never ugly, the picture that society painted was unrealistic.

It was created in a way that was meant to make you want to change.

The mold that you may have tried to fit in was never made to fit your body.

It was sculpted by those who would want you to blend in

And forget the parts of you that came from your ancestors.

I urge you, sweet girl, don’t forget. Don’t bend.

Remember.

Remember that you are made to stand tall.

Your skin is so mesmerizing, the sun itself is lovestruck.

It sends its rays down to kiss your skin, making you shine like a star.

Your eyes represent the Earth itself,

Their rich darkness emanating the beauty of Mother Nature herself.

Your hair is a storyteller; it tells your history and your triumph.

It’s meant to be worn in glory, so walk with your chin in the air.

Dear little Black girl,

I leave you with these departing words:

You never needed to straighten your hair or wear lighter foundation

In order to be “pretty” — and I’m so sorry if you ever believed so.

You are beautiful, smart, kind, and unique. Please don’t ever forget that.

Society’s beauty standards were never meant to make you feel pretty-

But to make you feel inferior. Please, my love, don’t let them win.

Your hair, your skin, your eyes, your body — wear all these with pride.

The next time you find yourself standing in the sun, remind yourself:

You are radiant. Don’t dampen that light — glow.