Black People, Colourism Is So Old fashioned

Actress- Lupita Nyong'o

I had just finished a spin class when she asked for a ride home. I was delighted as always. I enjoy our animated conversations on  Black matters from various perspectives.
Nicole is  Jamaican, born and raised on the reggae Island. Attended college and did post-graduate studies in the United States but now lives in Trinidad.
I, an African, born and raised on the continent, also live on the twin Isle nation.
Our experiences are different as they are similar. We share a common denominator. We are both bequeathed with skin the color of dark chocolate, sensuous full lips the color of Ivorian cocoa beans, and hips not exactly the size of the Zambezi but a tributary.

I never see color nor attach any importance to it until my sojourn to the Americas. When I first heard Red as skin color and I was very amused. Then I learned what it really represented; Black mixed with White (European), or very light-skinned, hair straighter than my kinky locks, so the individual's beauty status was slightly elevated.
 I laughed myself hoarsely. My dada (Auntie)  is "Red" skinned but she ain't mixed with anything, no White, No Arab. She is purely African. 
My ancestral home is in South-Eastern Nigeria and being light-skinned is commonplace.

"It is your mindset," I told her. As an African, I do not see the "red" skin as better or more attractive than ebony skin. 
Although some will disagree, there are people back home, women and men alike who bleach their skin to make it lighter. One of the most disgusting things anyone can do to themselves.
Some of these products used to achieve this new preferred skin color, contain mercury and are dangerous to the health.
I hear similar incidences happen in subcontinent India.

As an African what makes a difference to me is my educational status.
You can be red-skinned with straight hair, if you did not attend University, my African mindset thought a little less of you. 
That is my prejudice.
I would not date you if you did not attend a University and by that I mean intellectual. And if you are too religious, amongst other things.

"The Black men here, prefer the red skin women with straight hair" she complained. 
The dark skin woman often referred to as "darkie" is seen as least attractive. If black men do not find their women attractive what race would? Nicole queried. I chuckled. 

I had heard that somewhere before, Kola Boof goes on and on about it on her page.
I was amused, not because the issue was not serious. There is some truth to the allusion. It has damaged the self-esteem of many young girls in the Americas. But because it did not matter to me.
I told her, I personally do not find the men here attractive enough (okay except for five). 
 Not because of what they look like but because they do not have it. 
Most men here are not as educated as I would like. It was her turn to chuckle. "so even the size of the stick does not matter to you, you just care about some paper diploma on the wall" she asked in disbelief.
I pleaded the fifth.

Nicole is comfortable in her own skin, wears her hair naturally, no perms or weaves from China, India, Brazil, or Peru. She is trying to teach her little niece the same. But says it is an arduous task for the young girl, who is surrounded by adults who are obsessed and fixated on skin color and hair texture in her native Jamaica.
The majority are still trapped in mental slavery.
"Many in the world are still trapped, both those who were enslaved and those colonized" I stated

I am comfortable in my own skin, wear my hair in dreadlocks and preach "Go Natural"

So I asked "Did you watch the Golden Globes red carpet on Sunday?
She shook her head. oh! you should have,  Lupita Nyong'o rocked her natural hair and looked so beautiful in her dress. And won best dressed on the red carpet.
At this point, I am almost hyperventilating and my voice is a little raised. "Sorry am a little loud" I apologized. I am Nigerian we are a loud and boisterous lot.
She waved her right hand "Jamaicans are loud too"
"It is all about self-esteem" I announced, how you project yourself. "Self-worth" she corrected, an older Black lady had told her the week before. I agreed totally.
It's all about self-worth, what you think of yourself is what you project to the world. People see and accept what you project.
 We both agreed.

She watched "Blood diamonds" for the second time last night and she cried herself to sleep. She asked me what it really is like on the continent. I was silent for a second and my heart went out to her.

Being born and raised in our natural environment, Africans are often not as disadvantaged in self-worth as Black people in the new world.
 "I have been through a war too" I announced self consciously. Every African country has fought itself.

Soon after I was born, my country went to war with itself. She is all ears. And told her about "Half of a Yellow Sun" which chronicles the struggle of my people; The Igbo ethnic group in Nigeria and their desire for self-determination. The struggle to get independence from Nigeria. The struggle to actualize Biafra.