PREJUDICE OF A LIGHTSKINNED GIRL | \”Too White to be Black\”

I had a hard time deciding whether to write a poem or just an article for this post but of course a poem, so here it goes.

“You can’t possibly know what it feels like” she said, “to feel the heat of judgement for the colour of your skin, you got lucky”,

“Don’t say a word please”, he said, “people like you who have conformed to letting words slide off your tongue like the whites can’t possibly know what it feels like to be laughed at for the recoil of the letter R on your tongue or the hounding of H to every word”,

So, I don’t count, stuck in between; neither nor,

A hybrid tossed aside for lack of “originality”

They say, \”why do you act so white? Like I couldn’t even tell you were Nigerian\”.

You look too light to be purely Nigerian, are you mixed?

It is almost laughable but more pitiable,

That those whose cries are laced with the fight against racism and victimization are the ones whose words are laced with the venom of hate against their own kind with a twist,

How can you expect some of a different race to take you seriously when you wound your own?

                          Shamed for having good phonetics,                           

Scorned for not having “enough” melanin,

I see how the hate in your eyes have tangoed with a misplaced envy in your heart giving rise to misconceptions, hypocrisy, and vengeance.

\”If I had your skin colour I wont claim to be Nigerian\” he said,

\”If I could speak Pho-né like you, do you know where I would be\”, she said

\”You do not know how lucky you are to be light skinned\”, was said,

\”You fit speak pidgin English sef?\” They said, \”abeg clear road, you no be better Naija babe\”,

You feel cheated and uncomfortable in your dark skin,

That you question the black in my light skin,

My authenticity called to question,

My grandma’s uncle’s father’s sister’s aunty’s mother must have been from the overseas,

That has to be why my blood is diluted and in other words corrupt.

I must be the cause of the problems in your life,

Because people like myself who claim to be “black” make it difficult for the “real” blacks to progress.

Our names are Olabisi, Farih, Kanyinsola, Obielumani, Oghenekome,

We are not the pigmentation of our skin,

Nor the intonation of our words,

Do not judge me by standards you wish not be judged by,

Do not hate me with the venom whose antidote you still crave,

Respect the principles of the golden rule;

“what goes around comes around”.

STAY SHINING LOVELIES 🌹

MODEL: Olabisi

To see the other pictures from this shoot click HERE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY: Theblackscribbler