@thelaurenshields: “This is actually the first time I’ve worn this shirt. It was ordered by my homies for a friend’s reunion in my hometown that I couldn’t make 2 years ago. I’ve wanted to speak on my journey as a #multiracial woman for a long time, but never knew where to start, it’s just so complex, yet beautifully simple. My mom is a #White woman of #English and #Irish descent. My father is a #Black man of #African and #NativeAmerican (#Cherokee and #Choctaw lineage). When I was a kid, I believed I was everything. Everything as in every race! How my genes were expressed in my appearance didn’t truly affect me until I left for college. I had never had so many people question me. The question ALWAYS came up, “What are you?” Or even better, “where are you from, you’re so exotic.” I’m #mixed from a small town in Illinois. Then they would scour my face for proof. “I don’t see it,” they would say. “But is your dad black black?” I began to question who tf I was. I would sit in tanning beds in the winter to maintain my color. I thought it was so unfair that I was this strange bird that fit nowhere. I wasn’t really a black woman, but I wasn’t white either, and I had zero connection to my #indigenous heritage. You know who brought me home though? The black women in my life that accepted my truth without question. They taught me traditions, how to cook soul food, how to play cards, how to shine, and most importantly how to just be myself. We would go to black clubs, places my white friends were too afraid to go. I got called “white girl” frequently, and they were the first to check them, “She’s not white, she’s light skinned!”😅 Recently, I’ve had white mothers of #biracial children reach out to me for advice on raising us. My response, make sure you and your children are deeply embedded in the black community. Show them all the ways that #mixedchildren look. Talk to them about their looks, skin color does matter, and it needs to be acknowledged. Help them prepare to be questioned with quick responses and empower them with knowledge of their lineage. We are racially fluid humans, we are all and we are neither. We deserve to be acknowledged.” 🏴🏳️🇺🇸🏴🇮🇪 https://www.instagram.com/p/CJWzfz0luTW/?igshid=1t37ii5lhk5gm
