The Beauty of Sistas

I love Black women…being a Black woman myself, I think we are some of the most beautiful women in the world. We are often imitated, but never duplicated (hey, I’ve heard that somewhere before)…we are Queens, Diamonds, Stars…there are several reasons why we are beautiful…I’d like to share with you some of the reasons I think we are…

“Black don’t crack”…I’m sure you’ve heard that mantra before. Just look at your grandma and your great aunts and your older aunties and you will have your proof. My granny is 80 years old and she is gorgeous…smooth, supple, caramel skin, not a wrinkle in sight, bright eyes…every time I see her, I always put my hand to her face just to touch her skin. It is always soft and warm. But even as younger Black women, we have excellent genes; our skin is beautiful. Our skin tones run the gamut from vanilla to deep chocolate and we wear it well…If you don’t believe me, visit one of my favorite sites, Afro Sugar, for a daily dose of pure Black beauty…

We do come in all shapes and sizes, no? From small and petite to the big girls, Black women know how to work their thangs! We have the asses that other women pay to get, and the curves that other women envy! What more is there to say?

Don’t cross a sista or you will get told! From not accepting less than we deserve, to not putting up with intolerable bullshit, we sistas will go off in a heartbeat, some of us with ghetto born vengeance, some of us with educated tact, but all of us with deep seated strength that comes from way back…you will know when you have been dealt with!

Speaking of strength, Black women are some of the strongest women on earth…who else could rise above being left to raise kids while our men are dying in the streets, in prison, or just plain old absent, all while getting our college degrees and fulfilling our own dreams? Who else could work two jobs and take care of our families at the same time? With all the misogynistic lyrics of rap being thrown at us, with the media treating us as secondhand citizens undeserving of coverage when one of us is missing or murdered or abused, Black women find a way to rise above the stink and unite. We will not be seen as “bitches” and “hoes,” we will not allow the media to seal our fate…we will pass the word around by mouth if we have to, or by using our own media outlets…

There is power in numbers…and there is power in Black women. If we can reach each other and teach each other to love ourselves, we could be unstoppable. Because we have been demeaned, disgraced, and overall shit upon, many of us find it hard to rise and just settle for living life as is. We must rise and fight to overcome; we must find our purpose and reach for our dreams…it is only fair that we give to ourselves that which others have tried so hard to take from us.

It’s all love, baby…  

© 2007. Marva Allen-Fowler. All Rights Reserved.