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Loving Each Other When We’re All Different Colors
Love takes a lot of work, but it’s worth it to clear the air
Wrinkles in time
I have always envied black women’s skin. My own pale skin is not only prone to freckles, sunburn and cancer, but as an adolescent, I thought I was going to die from the shame of acne. That passed. But now I am beginning to see the wrinkles in time. There are people of every color, of course, who may have smooth, gorgeous skin, but to me, black skin seems the most beautiful.
Perhaps privilege allows me, a white woman, to talk about skin envy as if I don’t know that living in black skin is a very different reality. But I want to talk about loving all the beautiful black and brown people, BIPOC, and appreciating human skin seemed like a place to begin.
Good reads when the world’s on fire
I’ve been reading How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi, a book our crazy, violent, burning time, demands. Like everyone else, I am bound to make mistakes and say stuff the wrong way. His book explains how systemic racism hurts everyone. I get it that it hurts black and brown people the most. I get it that even abolition and liberation movements have not risen to the level of inclusion we all need. I get it that saying All…