I only hope that one day you will be able to look in the mirror and love the person you see. I hope that you can discover the person you were meant to be and live everyday after that with pride. Pride in the lessons you've learned from the mistakes you've made. Pride in the color of your skin, that it is a badge of honor attesting to the deeply rooted glorious history of our people; your people.
Pride in the fact that should you ever have a daughter, she will grow up to be a beautiful black woman; a brown skinned beauty much like your mother. And as her father I pray that you teach her to be a queen; a right she inherited from your people. Our people. By the time she's old enough to realize that men will pass her by simply because the brown of her skin matches the brown of her eyes, I hope that you will be able to pull her to your side to help her stand and she will see her father as an example of what to look for in a man. A man who was blind to color when he chose her mother. Whether she be white, beige, caramel or mocha, I just hope you're able to tell your daughter that her mother is everything you've ever wanted in a woman from her ambitions to her character and her complexion never crossed your mind.
I want you to find the courage to be alone with your thoughts and be brave enough to tell yourself the truth. I want you to be comfortable enough with yourself to be yourself regardless of who else is around. I pray that one day you find your inner peace. The kind of peace that comes from being sure of who you are and whose you are. The peace you find when you know what you want out of life and what things you don't want in your life. A peace that can guide you. A perfect peace.
But most importantly, I want you to want these things for yourself.
Pride in the fact that should you ever have a daughter, she will grow up to be a beautiful black woman; a brown skinned beauty much like your mother. And as her father I pray that you teach her to be a queen; a right she inherited from your people. Our people. By the time she's old enough to realize that men will pass her by simply because the brown of her skin matches the brown of her eyes, I hope that you will be able to pull her to your side to help her stand and she will see her father as an example of what to look for in a man. A man who was blind to color when he chose her mother. Whether she be white, beige, caramel or mocha, I just hope you're able to tell your daughter that her mother is everything you've ever wanted in a woman from her ambitions to her character and her complexion never crossed your mind.
I want you to find the courage to be alone with your thoughts and be brave enough to tell yourself the truth. I want you to be comfortable enough with yourself to be yourself regardless of who else is around. I pray that one day you find your inner peace. The kind of peace that comes from being sure of who you are and whose you are. The peace you find when you know what you want out of life and what things you don't want in your life. A peace that can guide you. A perfect peace.
But most importantly, I want you to want these things for yourself.