A Love Note to Women of Color

It is strange how something like color which has no mass or weight  Can make you feel so heavy So often I resented the pigment of my skin as a burden ~ As a young girl I remember looking at the  girls with blonde hair and blue eyes And thinking that they were so beautiful  That my darkness and fullness would never allow me to be Desired Like they were. ~ But as I grew older I started to learn about where I came from The majestic queens whose legacy of womanhood I inherited  The cultural jewels and lavish colors that other women wished they had  The golden threads handspun into my skin’s glowing hue  ~ After I learned about my glorious roots  I entered into a chrysalis of revolution to begin unraveling To unlearn everything that they taught me to hate myself  To unlearn feminism that did not include me  To unlearn beauty standards centered around whiteness   ~ To emerge as a  powerful beautiful remarkable woman of color  proud of who I was, who I am, and who I will be  ~ As I leave my cocoon and blossom into the woman that was  hidden within me  I remember all of the women who showed me the way Who showed me my gifts and my talents  And taught me how to love myself unapologetically  ~ To my women of color  We carry within us the power to transform the world  We stand on the shoulders of generations of women  who fought for us  To take up our earned space at the table  ~ So I invite you to unravel, too  And destroy the myth of our inferiority  The world can not heal without you, my sister  Won’t you join me?