THE SKIN I'M IN

 The skin that I am in was not of my choosing.  My skin color and related characteristics are a combination of my African, Indian and American Caucasian clans. 

 The vessel that I came through was not of my choosing or the individual that fathered her or me.  For the vessel that carried me did not determine the skin that she was in.  Her Indian American mother was only 12 years of age when she was brutally raped by an adult Caucasian and left on a Pullman train heading North.

The place that I was born in was not of my choosing either.  My having one drop of Negro blood meant that I was considered less than 1/8th of a human being.  It was a time when the Ku Klux Klan reigned and people of color were referred to as many today are yet called, niggers. 

Divination determined the skin that I am in.  Forethought was in full affect when a vessel was being chosen for my carriage.  Times between times were chosen for my birth, that I might witness the unusual in what the world thought was a usual place.  

The South was chosen to help me develop strength through adversity and moral character through instruction that God's will prevail.  It gave me an understanding that not all people of any clan are bad or good, but have choice in their actions.

We have many Caucasians who are incensed against hate mongers and are tired of being associated with their forefathers past.  They stand up and verbalize their displeasure with actions that attempt to keep hate alive.  Many want peace and an opportunity to live with and disagree with a person of color without it becoming racial in nature. 

Stop acting like you don't see White people standing with us against racism.  Stop giving credence to those who whisper, hurl or scream derogatory words at you.  After all you should have learned by now, that it is not what you are called that determines who you are, but how you refer to yourselves and what you answer to.

Nothing is wrong with the word Nigger, the problem is in what it was formed for and the meaning that was given it.  Further, the skin color of the user matters not.  None of us should use it when addressing others.  You would think the word nigger was some delicacy as much as it is used and by people of color also. 

When I hear, "What's up my nigger, you be my nigger or you're my nigger," I start looking around in an attempt to see who they are talking to.  You see, I know the person is not addressing me, but I get that surprised look on my face to bring to their attention that I don't like what they said.

Don't they know that the word nigger applies to anyone with a nasty disposition and that calling someone that name makes them the nigger? 

Know that it is not what others call you that matters, but what you answer to and call yourselves.  We allow ourselves to be named and defined by others.  I say, stop answering to names that don't apply to you, and stop wearing shoes that don't fit you. 

We have so much repair work to do both within and outside of our borders.  Some of this damage was manufactured by outside enemies while much more was home grown.

I believe that the more we interact with one another, the more we will see that we are more alike than our differences may lead many to believe.

While we look to the right, the left is constantly faking right then moving left to keep us off balance.  Also, we must stop pitting lighter skinned minorities against darker skinned minorities, in an attempt to make them feel they are better than their dark skinned relatives.  The truth is that we are a blended people, even if some people don't know it or refuse to acknowledge this fact.  There is no excuse for division amongst the "races," especially those of color. 

Any attempt to gain status at the expense of another or become "honorary Caucasians" will in the end work against you. 

We all should be as proud of our mixed heritage as we are our language.  After all, within every culture, there is a subculture of people whose mannerisms cause members of their culture to be ashamed of being associated with them.  If we can only accept the good things about people, we become phony.  After all, none of us are perfect and the perfect one was crucified by the self-righteous.

It is up to individuals to stop associating all of a race by the actions of some in that clan. 

Why does human nature lead people to quickly point out the negatives of a race and not the positive successes?  What is it about skin color that so frightens us?  Like it or not, at the end of the day, we all are family.  If you haven't noticed it yet, our children are ahead of us.  They keep trying to teach us this by crossing color, economic, cultural and religious divides to embrace each other in loving relationships.

When will the old heads learn that times are changing for the better and that they can either join the human race or be swallowed up by it?

While the skin that I am in cover blood, arteries, veins, various muscles and tendons, it also serves to help cover a heart that is filled with love and pain.  Out of the skin that I am in, grows glory as a covering for my brain's command center.  My skin's coloration is rich like whirled mocha, smooth like babies behinds and varying in pigmentation like grains of sand from heaven's beaches.  It is resilient, classy and causes hearts to flutter upon viewing it.  Sexy chocolate they say.   Gorgeous skin I hear.

Much of what I do while I am in this skin can be controlled by me and much of the control will be taken away from me.  My actions and reactions to all events, rather pleasant or unpleasant, will be held against me or will serve to strengthen me.  Even my inactions will have an impact upon the skin that I am in.  

My choosing to love and not hate, give or receive, fall or rise, will not remove me from the skin that I am in.  Why then not love the skin that I am in, instead of worrying about public views of my skin?  Be it dark as midnight or light as cream, I will not bleach it, use pigmentation altering methods or tanning lotions to change it. 

Take a note from babies who are touched by the heart of a person as they see through God's eyes, and not their skin color.  Furthermore, take a look at the children around you and see that their skin color is neither pale nor black, but shades of brown.  You can't stop it.  Love....covers "a multitude of faults."

When the aging process cause the skin that I am in to wrinkle and begin to crumble, I will yet celebrate it.  In that day when the decaying process takes over, as the breath of God withdraws itself, I want it to be said, that my skin served me well.