All Shades of Brown
In this time withdrawn from the previous way of life our world used to know, I have discovered a new appreciation for Mother Nature and Father Time: 2 of the most powerful forces working together. Both are completely out of our control, but they are now running our lives—it can make us all feel irrelevant (like dirt)…
“Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
Genesis 2:7
I’ve learned to live one day at a time: think of a minute glass or an hourglass. We’re like trees planting new roots; to me, that means allowing your body & soul to grow and extending new branches in order to bear good fruit.
DANA
Photography by Daniel Curtis Lee
In this photo shoot, I share an untold story that is extremely personal to my life journey. With this, I also hope to clarify:
1. Who I am /who I am striving to become
2. What direction I’m going in my life
I see myself, more than anything else, as a communicator
We’re all communicating with one another
I hope to add another layer to that communication by shedding a little more of myself
More All Shades of Brown Commentary
Why I’m so proud to be a brown skinned woman
I feel this is a topic that needs the most attention in a time like this, and with the start of a new season, I feel so prepared to put into words what a lifetime of victory over oppression and misunderstanding has led me. This is all done in the hopes that it will help lead and encourage other girls and women who also look and feel like me.
I understand my life is unique, yet there is a common understanding that I want to communicate in order to connect to the masses. Contrary to how the world, and unfortunately this country, conditioned me to think, I honestly feel in the depths of my heart and soul that I am exceptionally beautiful, beyond gorgeous.
I always have, too, bypassing some early stages in my young life where I was programmed to see brown skin and kinky hair on females as an excessively ugly trait. Sometimes I would have moments of weakness; scratching my legs and cursing the way the white scratches so greatly and negatively contrasted with my dark complexion. But eventually that resentment would be replaced with appreciation: my rich, strong melanin and most of all, the untouchable beauty I possess inside: my warm and undeniably bright and infectious smile, which would make me feel prettier than anyone around me because it truly came from within.
Even though I was thoroughly trained to hate my hair, I noticed privately that it still never stopped me from finding the comfort in holding tightly and squeezing the puffy textured delicately placed pieces, which strangely still give me unexplainable joy and comfort that I know stringier pieces of hair could never provide me.
All of this is really deeply rooted; it is a truly individual experience, and this makes it almost impossible to profess publicly how and why I’m so proud to be me or why I wouldn’t want to change places with anyone—even if it was a possibility and I was given the opportunity to do so.
But my hope in sharing this was to try to begin to convey to someone who might be young like I was and maybe has lost a little faith or patience in their own process. Trust me, please! It does get better, and if nothing else, please see me as living proof, and make this attitude adjustment for yourself, your sanity, and your own life first.
Anyone else who hears this message that wasn’t intended for them, I hope you’ve gained significant insight into one black woman’s opinion. I do not speak for all, because I cannot speak for all—I speak entirely for myself.
#DOFORSELFORDIEASLAVE
Four time All-American, WNBA Champion, Edutainer and Coach