HOW I DISCOVERED THAT MY BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL

 When I was younger, I struggled with my self-esteem. I felt God made a mistake when he created me because of my dark features and jet-black hair. I thought I had to change to be loved.

What else was I supposed to believe? Mainstream media seems to have a pretty good idea of what "beauty" is, and most of the time, that doesn't include me. The reality is, it's a daily struggle for a young black woman like myself to believe .

I'm beautiful while I'm living in a society where the love to bleach has taken a worrying dimension. Just think about the scarcity of black models, or the vast under representation of black female leads on network television shows. 

Every lady out there want to be fair.Compound that with the perceived value of having a "porcelain" complexion and our conditioned notions of what it means to have "good" versus "bad" hair. The way black beauty is dissected, discussed, and scrutinized is enough to leave anyone exhausted.

I grew loving 2 face and Flavour, 2face’s African queen and Flavour’s Black is beautiful, won my heart. It took me thousands of miles to expand my view of authentic beauty, but it reminded me that I don't need to look to the media to find a role model. My black is beautiful and I am proud of it.

I discovered I don’t have spots, no stretch marks, my colour is friendly with the climate where i was born and raised. The weather was simply made for my skin When I was younger, I struggled with my self-esteem. I felt God made a mistake when he created me because of my dark features, jet-black hair and full lips. I thought I had to change to be loved.

What else was I supposed to believe? Mainstream media seems to have a pretty good idea of what "beauty" is, and most of the time, that doesn't include me. The reality is, it's a daily struggle for a young black woman like myself to believe that

I've also learned to embrace what God gave me naturally. I love my beautiful, thick, and kinky hair. I go for minimal makeup, if any, and choose to enhance my best features.

We have a long way to go to change the way we look at and interpret beauty, but I'm happy that I can finally say—and mean—that my black is beautiful. Finally I have learned to feel empowered, walk with pride, and love myself just the way I am.

I am beautiful Genia.

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