On my Wikipedia User (profile) Page (user name: C-ritah)
'''For Colored Girls (and Gies) Who Sometimes See Rainbows'''
“I remember never believing that whites were really real” -- Maya Angelou from “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings”
I, an African-American, remember believing that black people were never really real. This is a true confession. I was always called "black." I knew I was included when people said “Black is beautiful.” I remember people in high-school quoting a popular saying, “It’s a black thang, you wouldn’t understand.” Although I didn’t understand, I imagined I did. When my “White-acting” [???White acting????] friend (who dreamed of being an actor in New York) who often acted unique and original, and less "conformist," told me, “It’s a black thang, we wouldn’t understand,” I was a little offended; 'I am black,' I thought, 'I understand.'
This was the same girl-friend I grew up with from Kindergarten to graduation. We both had the same second-grade teacher, a “white” teacher, who shared the class with a tall, slender, female African-American Teacher’s Aid. I remember the day we, six and seven year-olds, asked our teacher why brown people were called "black." It was a question a lot of us kids had wondered about. Our "white" teacher said she didn’t know…which is a good answer. If you don’t know, you don’t know. The tall Teacher’s Aid didn’t have a better response, although instinctively, I felt like she knew more than she was telling. I remember our teacher telling the class to stick out our arms and hands, and come together to form a circle. We did, (with our skin touching) and we noticed all the colors we came in…brown, caramel, yellow, tan, pink, and the lightest brown. Although it was fun; I remember the other kids made me aware of being the darkest person there. I was black.
In my North Carolina public school, I learned there were eight basic colors…not more. Eight: black, brown, purple, blue, red, orange, yellow, and green. What was/is white (if not a color)? Did "white" people think that white was clear? That the color white was the same as the absence of color? My mind noticed many odd ideas, like strange spellings, and negative numbers…many ideas didn’t make sense to me, but I accepted them (somewhat). To be honest, my mind weaves through a lot of strange ideas…I am thinking of creating a new bumper sticker that many people may want to buy: Education is also UNLEARNING the Mis-education we learn.
There are a lot of things that are confusing to a young person, I think there is much confusion today. When I was in college, I remember telling a “white” person (I think of Jewish descent) that black people did not exist. I was trying to be honest and factual. I told her that most "black" people were actually brown or dark brown people. Since we (dark brown people) are dark, I told her that "white" people probably called us "black", "black" people. In my way of understanding, this made sense. I was "black," everyone I grew up around was "black," and all could clearly see that I/we was/were brown. Of course, I met other people who seemed more confused (in college), for example, a friend told me “Oprah Winfrey and Clarence Thomas are white;” this same person, told me his father (who looked to me like an Italian-American) was “black.” Later, he described himself as a brown person (which I agree with. He is brown). Obviously, I think there is a lot of confusion in America.
I watched a Christian program that showed black people. People who could not be described as any other color – but black. I noticed what I may have ignored before, black people do exist. Black is beautiful. People of color are beautiful.
Now, I live in a pre-dominantly African-American neighborhood, (which is in some ways, like the neighborhood I grew up in). Many people in my neighborhood are black. Sometimes, I am very aware of being brown…not in a fearful way... just aware… I don’t want to be accused of identity-theft [which I’ve never been accused of before…mostly, other brown people have pointed out the lighter-brown regions of my body. Yeah, I notice my multi-hued body...I wonder why they mentioned it?] I think I negated “blackness” when I believed black (people) did not exist, and replaced it with the color brown [And I think I am still confused on how to best express my confusion]. I don’t think that is healthy (for me)…I hope to better describe my reality. I hope people of all colors feel good about their accomplishments, and daily deeds. I am happy using the term African-American. Many people call themselves African-Americans, and identify with a larger group of people who are many colors. At this point, this is who I am, a brown person, who has inherited many features from my black ancestors (and probably, from ancestors of a few other colors); and I am (I think) an America citizen. It’s all good, and Black Is Beautiful!
Peace and Umoja (unity)!
My list of Nine Basic Colors:
English............. English Fonētekā............ English Pronunciation (Dictionary Version)
Black....................... Bā-lāk(ā).................................blak
Brown..................... Bā-rāo-nā...............................broun
Blue.........................Bā-lu.........................................blu
Purple.................... Pər-pul.................................... pərpəl
Red..........................Rēd(ā)......................................red
Orange....................O-rān-jā................................... ôˈräNZH
Yellow.................... Yē-lo......................................... yelō
Green......................Gā-re-n(ā).............................. grēn
White...................... Y-t(ā)......................................(h)wīt
My Fonētekā Key: "Sounds Like"................... "Sounds Like The Letter in the American Alphabet"
Ā - "ah" (Aria)..................................................... A - "ae" (Apron)
Ē - "eh" (Education)............................................E - "e" (Easy)
ə - "er" or "ur" (Pur-ple) or (Gen-der)
