Teaching Daughters to Love Their Melanin

One of the most important things for me is to teach my girls about their complexion. I want them to love, embrace, and appreciate all the different tones within our own household!

My mother and I came to America when I was in elementary. I remember growing up in Seattle and being one of five brown girls in my entire school. Although I am biracial (Mother from India and Father African American), diversity in our city was almost non existent at the time. My summers consisted of visiting my paternal grandparents in Port Arthur, TX. Each year, I would beg my mom to let me go to school in Texas because more children there looked like me. Living in Seattle, I experienced racism at such a young age so moving to the South was exactly what I hoped for. My childhood memories did not consist of toys, songs, or even the media celebrating the beauty of brown skin with no exclusions like we find today.

After years of begging, my mother finally agreed to let me go to school in Texas for my 7th grade year. From hair to skin tone and more importantly the culture, it was a completely different environment than Seattle and I loved it! One year turned into two, and two turned into three. Long story short, completing middle and high school in a diverse environment helped me gain so much love and appreciation for being a girl of color.

Now here I am, a mother of biracial girls (my husband is Jamaican) with unique skin shades and tones! My fraternal twin girls have different complexions and hair textures as well. It has always been a priority for me to practice self love and in turn teach my children to appreciate their physical appearance. In our household, you will find a variety of magazines, tv shows and movies showcasing girls and women from different ethnicities. I make it a point to buy dolls that range in skin color and hair textures. It creates a perfect opportunity to have honest conversations during playtime about finding unique features beautiful.

Although we see more diversity with woman of color today, it is still important to expose your children at an early age to build their resilience against racism and colorism. Let’s continue to uplift our young children in order to help them develop positive self-concepts and appreciation for their own true beauty!