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Black Beauty: “Flexin’ in my Complexion”
Please, please support Flexin’ in my Complexion, the brainchild and creation of a then ten year old (now eleven) entrepreneur Kheris Rogers:
“Kheris Rogers can’t forget the grade school humiliation. During an assignment where the students had to draw themselves, the teacher handed the shy dark-skinned girl a black crayon instead of a brown one.
“I was the darkest of all of them,” the stunning 11 year old recalls of her classmates. “But they were all African-American.”
Rogers had earlier transferred from another school to escape the incessant bullying. It didn’t work. Her complexion set her apart, a label she couldn’t shed.
But now Rogers owns her label, literally. Her clothing line is called “Flexin’ In My Complexion.” The brand has caught fire among some big celebrities. . . ”
Read the full article by Elizabeth Elkin and Ben Burnstein on CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/20/health/sisters-anti-bullying-clothing-line-trnd/
Kheris turned this into a teachable moment. Now her clothing line is taking off!
Oscar winner Lupita N’Yongo is also proudly “Flexin’ In My Complexion.”
If any reader isn’t convinced that this issue is real, please read this speech by Lupita in 2014: http://wikkidsexycool.com/2014/03/06/waiting-on-the-world-to-change/
What Kheris experienced was intra-racism. Black on black bullying due to her dark skin. For others, it can be because they’re not dark (or their outward appearance, such as their hair and features don’t appear “black”, and thus, some will claim that they’re not black enough).
Colorism isn’t limited to women. Males are affected also. I won’t post his before and after photos here, but baseball great Sammy Sosa is an example of how colorism can even affect someone with Sosa’s stature.
Now, for a bit of history. Ranking black individuals is nothing new, and in America, it was practiced during slavery (lighter slaves with more white looking features worked in the Master’s home, while darker slaves usually worked in the fields). There’s the “brown paper bag test” that was used during segregation (skin color checked against a paper bag) and also a poem that went like this:
If you’re white, you’re all right
In you’re brown, stick around
If you’re black, get back . . .
Ebony Magazine article from 2000: https://preview.tinyurl.com/y8e9odhu
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The Lion, the Witch and her Wardrobe
The lion is Karnage, as the gif below pays respect to the Chinese Lion Gargoyles (shí shī) that were created as silent guardians during the Han dynasty in China. They’re magnificent pieces of art, and I’ve incorporated their history into Pagan and Karnage’s love story.
I’d introduced the Xian gargoyles (Havoc and his dad Pathos) in my 2012 YA ebook titled RAZHER. Karnage is a major player in the sequel to that novel, which has a sneak peek up on Amazon from 2014. But since the story kept getting kinkier and darker, I realized the deleted scenes I’d created were more for an erotic romance featuring older characters.
I’m narrowing Karnage’s final look down, so here are two more finalists:
This version of a gargoyle by Dmitry Parkin is a masterful piece of 3d artwork, and is a fave of mine:
As far as his lady love, the witch Pagan, this gargoyle enjoys seeing her wearing little to nothing:
But when royal duties call, Pagan’s right by his side, dressed to impress: