Don't Let America's Standards Damage Your African Soul

Photo credits: Quortshirts.com

Every author was once a reader. When I was a child, I was fortunate enough to read "The Skin I'm In" by Sharon G. Flake and it benefitted me as I got older. But I'll admit that I was frustrated while reading it because I couldn't understand why they were so mean to Maleekah. It's just skin, I thought to myself. Yet, for her, it wasn't just skin. It was a reason to be teased. And I'm going to leave it there as I ease into my next point.

Kodak, can be my baby daddy?
​
- No one ever

Photo credits: Amazon.

As soon as I heard Kodak saying that he didn't like Black women, my first emotion was annoyance because his mentality is so detrimental to our community yet so prevalent in our community. Before you go on a tangent about it being his "preference," take note of the following:​

1. In his initial statement, he said that he'd "bag" Keke Palmer but wouldn't date her, as if Black women are only here to serve the purpose of satisfying his libido.
2. His follow-up statement stoked the flame even more when he said he was specifically meaning dark skinned women because they are "more difficult" to deal with, which is a generalization.

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This is why his statement is problematic for me. But, instead of going up in arms over the technicalities of Kodak's words, I want to discuss the implications. Every time someone's fave says something stupid, the fan base wants it to be treated like an isolated issue, but think about Kodak's platform. He has risen to minor prominence, with a viral dance to "Tunnel Vision" and "No Flockin'" being in rotation at almost every party.

Video credits: YouTube

Although I'm not bumping Kodak, someone else might be. So, Kodak is responsible as an artist for the message he's putting into the universe, as it will reflect back. However, I won't get into energies because that diverts from the point. ​In today's society, it's becoming scarily normal to find a Black man who "doesn't like black women."

​ I think the thing that annoyed me most about Kodak's statement is that he said he'd bag Keke Palmer, but he wouldn't date her because he doesn't like black girls. It is his preference, but while stating his preference, although no one asked him to, Kodak reduced Palmer to a sex object instead of a person. If he had said he just liked non-Black girls, I probably wouldn't have been as annoyed.

The opposite of darkness isn't light. It's love!

"Alex," Twitches

Of course, Kodak does not speak for all black men and his school of thought might represent a minority instead of a majority, but it still elicited an eye roll, a "what's new?" both accompanied by an, "I don't want you either." Initially, I responded with indignation, but now I want to respond with love and kill the negativity with kindness.  Who remembers Twitches? When I was younger, I didn't understand what they meant when they said the opposite of darkness is not light but love. Now, I get it.

Latin: Amor vincint omnia.
English: Love conquers all.

Like so many of us, Kodak is lost in this matrix we call a country and forgetting that the dark skin he wears and criticizes holds power - so much power that some would go to extremes just to manufacture his gift from nature. All I can really do is pray for his understanding and pray for the spiritual healing. With everything that's going on in the world, colorism is the last thing our community really needs. With that said, I'll leave you to think on this quote from "Black is Gold" by Wale:

Knowing hella actors Black facing tryna play us.

Wale, "Black is Gold"