I feel like a lot of people are misunderstanding our modern day black and brown power movements. We’re not trying to say that black lives matter more than non-black lives, or that our naturally curly/kinky hair is better than naturally straight hair, or that melanated skin is more beautiful than lighter skin tones. What we’re trying to say is that our lives are important too, our natural hair is just as good, and our darker skin is also beautiful. For almost a thousand years the world has been solely praising/appreciating/advocating for European lives and aesthetics, and we are simply trying to tell the world that we too deserve praise and respect.
We are not aiming to compete with any other race/ethnicity, or belittle anyone’s phenotypes. We are trying to tell our brothers and sisters that we are beautiful the way we are and that our existence is valued just as much as anyone else’s. If our messages of self love and appreciation make you feel threatened or insecure, it is probably best that you take some time to address those feelings and evaluate what about us loving ourselves makes you unhappy and try to build some self-esteem that does not rely on other peoples self-hatred to thrive. Remember, it’s not Black Lives Matter more, it’s Black Lives Matter too.
Forever Thugnacious 
when you live in a capitalistic world that is ran by the white man, everything is fixed to cater that man. In other words, we are reliving neocolonialism. A prime example of that being the tourism industry. New York City, the big apple, where often service workers have to put on a smile to cater to those coming in. Where service workers have to change their personality to cater to what is seemed to be an appropriate behavior. And it is truly sad that people accept this to be normal or to fit the job requirement.
Another prime example is job requirement themselves. You’re telling me that my natural curls and fluff is not allowed in your work environment because you have instilled eurocentric views in your work zone that do not allow me to be myself. Telling me that I have to fit a certain profile to work for the white man because my education is not simple enough and the color of my skin and the texture of my hair plays a bigger factor. Thats capitalism. Thats how it works. And when we change the people running it, we can start to create change.
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Well said!
~ Zeena
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