In My Skin

I take so much pride in the color of my skin

Although hateful people in society treat it like a sin

I see the beauty inside my brown complexion

While some take one look at me and began to fear me and question

My beautiful black skin it doesn’t need a correction

I keep the bleach away from my skin, it wouldn’t bring me protection

Remember the one drop rule It won’t keep the hate away

My blood is still that same,

It’s racism that needs to fade away

Brown what does it mean to me

Love and tragedy

Fortune and catastrophe

But its my skin color and I’m proud to claim it even if it leads to agony

Black lives matter because the racist are after me

I can’t even scream my life matters without some folks being mad at me

Not for just being black but also black and LGBTQ

Because it’s sometimes looked at as another reason for people to bring down black people

To be gay and brown means to be hated by racist and sometime your own

Imagine being hated for having brown skin and then being hated for being gay by people with the same skin tone

It’s bad enough my assault or death might not matter even if it’s caught on a camera phone

It’s even worst that i’m gay because black gay lives loss barely ever get shown

I can’t even completely blame my people for judging me when stereotypes of us are all that’s shown

In history books, songs, movies, and in the news channels racist fund or own

Nonetheless i’m proud of my brown skin and all the great things it means

My ancestors in Africa were kings and queens

My ancestors in America stood up and fought for great things

When I see brown skinned people

I see people filled with fear from being hunted, harassed, and slain

I see people full of bravery and pride even when we feel this pain

When I look at the present and the days we were enslaved and chained

Beautiful brown skin often referred to black

A color historically associated with darkness and evil but I give that back

Because the thing I see the most in melatonin skin is beauty in brown and black