Tag: black love

Sunday Share: Growing Up With Miss Jamaica

 

Diversity Colorism The Coffey Break

Hey guys,

Happy Sunday! Elle Magazine never seems to disappoint, and short of slipping into a rabbit hole, I wanted to share a great read that dropped into my inbox this afternoon.

Anyone who knows me knows how passionate I am about colorism, and more importantly, its crippling affects on so many cultures and ethnic groups. Just in case:

Colorism, noun: discrimination against a person of color due to the european standard of beauty (e.g., light skin, thin lips, loosely coiled hair). this condition is most frequently present between those of the same race.

How awesome would it be if we could simply embrace the beauty of our differences and teach our kids to love themselves just as they are from the beginning? This is a huge mission of mine as it relates to the work we do with Mia’s Closet. There’s not substitute for the empowerment that comes with feeling good about yourself. Link to the original article below:

Growing Up With Miss Jamaica

​It took me years to undo the sense that lighter skin was more beautiful.

In an effort to keep from assuming that this topic is common knowledge, I’ve added a couple of doll test videos to further convey the importance of spreading the word about this topic. So much love to everyone who’s contributing to the conversation of raising awareness about this issue.

Peace, Love & Sunshine ~Chels

Kiri Davis: A Girl Like Me. [black doll / white doll experiment …

Doll Test – YouTube

Let’s Connect! IG + Twitter: @thecoffeybreak

“Why I only draw Black Women.”

I don’t even have the words to fully express how and why I love the excerpt shared by @nikisgroove on why she only draws Black women so very much. In a society where, for some, even the best compliment stems from a limited, and quite frankly, a$$ backwards perception of black beauty and culture (*from our own even at times) it’s no responsibility of anyone but ourselves to #SAYITLOUD, share our experiences, and celebrate the beauty of being Black. Full narrative below. Enjoy! Peace, Love & Sunshine ~Chelsimage

Why I only draw Black women
Inspired by
Why I’m Absolutely an Angry Black Woman

Because when I was five, my kindergarten classmate told me I couldn’t be the princess in the game we were playing because black girls couldn’t be princesses. Because I was in third grade the first time a teacher seemed shocked at how “well-spoken” I was. Because in fourth grade I was told my crush didn’t like black girls. Because in sixth grade a different crush told me I was pretty — for a black girl. Because in 7th grade my predominantly black suburban neighborhood was nicknamed “Spring Ghettos” instead of calling it its name (Spring Meadows).

image

Because I was in 8th grade the first time I was called an Oreo and told that I “wasn’t really black” like it was a compliment.
Because in 9th grade when I switched schools a boy told me he knew I had to be mixed with something to be so pretty. Because in 10th grade my group of friends and I were called into an office and asked if we were a gang, or if we had father figures.

image

Because in 11th grade my AP English teacher told me that I didn’t write like a college-bound student (though I later scored perfectly on the exam). Because when I volunteered in Costa Rica that summer, I was whistled at and called Negrita. Because when I asked my host father if that was like being called nigger, he said, no, it was a compliment because black women are perceived to be very good in bed. Because I was a kid. Because I watched from the bleachers while the school resource officer didn’t let my brother into a football game after mistaking him for another black boy who was banned. Because the school resource officer maced him for insisting he was wrong. Because I was suspended for telling the school resource officer he didn’t deserve respect. Because my senior year boyfriend said nigger.

 

Because I was one of two black girls in the freshman class at my college. Because at meetings to talk about how to attract more black students, someone suggested that the school attracted a certain demographic (sustainable living, farming, general hippiness) and that maybe black people “just weren’t interested in things like that.” www.thsppl.com by Dominique Matti

They thought they could bury us…

Black lives matter Chelsea coffey Houston
—
They Tried To Bury Us. They Didn’t Know We Were Seeds… This week in the news was a tough one. It’s almost as if time has elapsed and the distinctions between the race based horror stories from generations past seem to be blurring… Outrage is a funny thing. I can literally feel my heartbreaking, and then things pick back up, and if I’m not careful, life carries on and that pain that should have been a fire to fuel that momentum is lost –until the next big blow. I don’t want to become desensitized. Hate crimes are not okay, child abuse is not okay, being addicted to social media is not okay, being consumed by work is not okay, colorism is not okay, popular entertainment content is junk food, at best, and despite all the bad, I love that I’ve been having some variation of these conversations more and more often for over a year now. There was a shift in this generation. We recognize the need for change, and I love seeing how friends and countless people I don’t even know are taking a hands on approach to being heard, redefining norms and setting a new standard. There’s something special about what’s happening with us. We’re entrepreneurs, we’re social activists, we use social media as a driving force to spread ideas and let people know about stories the media feels are unimportant and irrelevant, we connect with our communities, and most importantly, we know and believe that our efforts are exactly what naysayers were hoping we’d be too distracted to act on… They Tried To Bury Us. They Didn’t Know We Were Seeds. It’s a beautiful thing, for real.