Dear Kenyan Sister,
I have waited for so long to write to you. I doubt Mama has ever introduced me to you, but that doesn’t matter. Both you and I are daughters of the same womb, our mama land Kenya.
First and foremost, allow me to say that you are the most beautiful sister God could ever give me, and more than what I could ask for. When I see you, I see beauty and the art of God in display. But sister, what happened? I saw you the other day and was perplexed.
When I saw your face, I almost thought it was a man from the west who had been disciplined by the scorching sun. The color of your face skin got me twisted. Somewhere close to yellow, with burning cheeks. As I kept wondering whether or not it was you my sister, or a westerner, you picked your call. What I saw cleared my doubts. Your hands betrayed your face. Your skin was not even close to chocolate, but dark. I will not mention my reaction when I saw that, but when you saw me starring at you, you turned your neck probably wondering who I was looking at. I do not know what color code to give to your neck skin. My sister, your 3 in 1 skin, is, in one word, scarring.
If I was still a small child, I would with curiosity want to find out; why the skin patches? You must be wondering why I am minding your business, after all it is your skin. As your loving sister, your business is my business. I am concerned, that my beautiful, fearfully and wonderfully made sister is purposefully destroying her skin melanin and causing herself other dangers and uncalled for expenses in the name of beauty. I am sorry sister, but that bleached skin is not looking good on you.
You left me wondering, does bleaching your natural skin make you any smarter? I doubt it even makes you more successful. Have you not seen our own Lupita Nyong’o? Did her skin color prevent her from making history and breaking records? Have you not seen our sisters like Jelimo raising the Kenyan flag higher? Was their victory ever measured by the color of their skin? Do you remember our mother the late Prof Wangare Maathai? Her skin color did not prevent her from becoming the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. So tell me sister, what is it that your skin does not allow you to achieve in life? Absolutely nothing.
When God created you, He made you unique for a purpose, Your skin color too was part of God’s purpose for your life. Are you trying to tell God that He made a mistake? No, hold on sister. Did someone tell you that beauty is in the brightness of your skin and you do not want to be left behind? It is a lie. An open lie. Have you not seen beauty queens with very poor morals and no one could ever stand them? Don’t be deceived, let your beauty come from the inside of you. Take care of your skin yes, it can glow and look young without the bleaching. If anything needs a bleach, it is your heart, so it can be washed clean and be pure. Now that is total beauty. Accepting who you are is appreciating the creator for His great and marvelous creation. Remember sister, the color of your skin won’t take you nowhere. In between your ears, and your heart, will take your places. Work on those. No one has ever made life better for a single soul by bleaching their skin, I doubt you will either. Accept yourself, and the world will accept you. You are beautiful naturally.
Your loving sister,
Liz.
