Shades of Black

I remember way back when I was real young, my brother and I used to have adventures and we wouldn't even leave the house. Games full of hide and seek and afternoon cartoons. We were two peas in a pod like twins at least that's how we bonded. All the neighborhood kids loved us, were addicted to our energy. It wasn't until we grew up a little that I started to notice the difference between us. I was light as day, he was dark as night. Same father same mother just out mind sets were different. I got treated like a white girl even though I was full of soul. I begged for his darkness because I was naive. To him it didn't matter. He belonged to our family no matter the difference in color. I would stand by him just so people would see that I was black. Even though I knew every song, I knew how to dress, and shake just like a video girl some of the ignorant still just couldn't except that I was one of them. I got teased and beat because I had brown colored hair that fell down my back like long silk. My skin so light eye shadow wouldn't show when I put it on. I would stare in the mirror and wish for a darker complexion. But this was me, I lived a few blocks from the projects, a beautiful neighborhood with lots of houses we were upper class but still knew the struggle. A few gun shots here and there but my block was like the suburbs compared to them mean streets that I had never crossed. But I went to school right in the project area, you turned a corner and you were right in the middle of it. I've seen many fights, weed smelling bathrooms, girls bringing knives to school, alcohol in the cafeteria milk. I experienced it all right with them. I even had an temper that got my butt kicked sometimes. But it was always the same comment you can't be black, maybe Hispanic but not black. I would always wonder why, just because I was light to me this made no sense in the world. But I've grown up now and it doesn't bother me anymore because I love my curves and I know that there are different shades of black in the world. Especially since now a dayslight skinned girls are the new trend.