Written by a Woman, Dark Brown

Staring Back At Me

By Alicia Williams

So there's this sister... always staring at me.

Smiling happily through glorious moments of my life.

Crying with me when my heart hurts, trying desperately not to shed a tear.

This sister, who seems to know my every secret... from my deepest emotion to my most elusive fear.

Said to be birthed in the motherland but given to the world directly from the heavens. 

A sister whose womb once rested at the forefront of many nations... from the pyramids of Egypt, to the apartheid in South Africa, to the carnivals throughout the West Indies and South American countries that supplied the hands who built the American soil that we stand on.

So there's this sister...

Pushed so far out in the fields of slavery that her constant push in helping others escape to freedom was barely noticed.  Her hands bruised and battered from digging and picking, sitting amidst the animals as if she were one, with strength unlike any other woman.  

Serving as the driving force to her people's survival for a long-lasting lineage.

So there's this sister... 

Civil righteous to the bone.

Standing front line on the picket line, at the counter conducting sit-ins, facing the sheets of Klan's men... not afraid to state her claim for peace and equality.  The future bearer of a black panther village, from an afro-pic to a hot comb, always dressed and prepped for the fight of her life.

So there's this sister...

Funky and hip.  The hippest foxy brown diva, yo-yo girl, bootylicious bombshell strolling around her way as an around the way girl.

Intimidating to females because her vibe packed punches.  Over-analyzed by her male counterparts who couldn't seem to figure out how a woman of this color could be so damn fine.  Bashed by boriquas and redbones, facing words from those who were only a sun ray away from matching her mahogany.  

So there's this sister...

Called black, and dark when chocolate and brown justify the truth of her skin tone.

Beautiful and brown, skin rich and milky like the coco swirl to a caffeinated mixture.

Eyes slanted, pupils piercing any and every soul that dare glares back at her.

A physique mimicking that of a coke bottle... not too wide in the hips or busty in her breast, lean and mean but curvy enough to attract attention from the likes of any and every.

So there's this sister...

Ridiculed for centuries because God blessed her with a sun kissed complexion, 

Full of simplified complexities despite societies persistence to make her appear more complicated than she really is.

A sister who's told how beautiful of a "dark skinned" woman she is as if beauty of her kind doesn't come around often... when her kind of beauty is unmatched

A sister who's color has always been a topic of discussion... whose looks are exotic, skin flawless, beauty breath taking.

Telling me her story every time I look into her face... sharing all of the history that lies in her shade of brown.

Reminding me of how gorgeous I am when the world tries to shun me for a uniqueness I am in love with.  

A skin that history has proven to be tough... that is sometimes forgotten about and belittled for shallow and unintelligent reasons.

So there's this sister...

Who loves me for who I am, appreciative of what God has created.  

A sister who I thank... For her beauty is my beauty.  

A sister whose past will forever be embedded into my soul and nature of existence will forever fill my heart.

A sister who I too am staring at... For I am the beautiful dark brown, chocolate sister staring back at me.