You were made in God’s likeness, 

 Embodied in your silkily smooth skin, you are a Goddess,

Your melanin too strong, for the sun smiles upon your body, 

Tell the lighter ones to stay indoors while the drop of oil runs right off your body.

 

Dear black woman,

Why do you bathe in these poisons?

For these soaps only wash away your beauty,

My black woman, I cannot understand your plea,

For you are a special fruit, fully grown from God’s tree,

Filled with melanin and an everlasting flavour, 

A fruit blooming with confidence, confident of being savoured,

I promise you Black woman, they all want a bite, but they are too scared to taste, 
For they sit back and watch you, but are too scared to chase,

And so, they condemn you, they make you feel minute, 

But little do they know, that the blacker the berry the sweeter the juice.
Sincerely, all caring men.

 

Dear all men, 

Why can’t you recognize me for me? A black lady, 

For all you do is force me to rub away at my body,
I colour myself with these pastes until I’m left
colourless, 

If it hurts me, it’s okay, I’ll risk it regardless, 

Without it I feel as though I lose myself, 

Almost like I’m soulless as I feel so less of
myself, 

I do this, all for you and your attention 

I’ll keep the layer on my skin 60 seconds longer,
just to get a minute more of your attention 

Growing up they showed me the most beautiful black
woman that placed last to women of 1st degree lightness, 

So does white mean beauty? Am I not of likeness? 

Questions that I wonder 

Do it for style, or do it for fun, 

While my sisters keep doing it to receive an income, 

All this makeup yet I cannot cover up the insecurities that I feel, 

Without this paste, it’s almost as though that I am concealed, 

And so, I paste and I rub away, hoping to be seen,
hoping to be hailed, 

Waiting for the day to come, when me and all my sisters
are equally loved. 

Sincerely, all Black Women.

 

-Shazir A. Ali