Transracials

Narratives

Part 3 of 4 | See Previous Post

Kim: I’m just so proud of my people - especially my complexion and darker - standing up and taking ownership of Blackness. I'm not cowering to these privileged norms they’re trying to impose on us. Identity's a two-way street. You can't just blindly assert yourself in this world and demand acceptance. You earn it. We all had to.

​Sonja: Yeah, because I talk about complexion a lot too. And there’s this good documentary on Thurgood Marshall - I believe it’s called "Mr. Marshall" - it gives you a little more transparency on what was going on during the Civil Rights Movement and the fact that they had to negotiate with both sides - both the light skinned and the dark-skinned sides - to come together to even build the Civil Rights Movement. That was never transparent to me. 

Well, I recognized there was a difference because I had grandparents that talked about their issues with color. My grandfather has lighter skin. And his mother was very, very brown. And he despised her because of her complexion. So these things kind of existed in my family. And in my mind, people who are closest to the problem - those who can’t walk away from the problem or don’t have the benefit of the doubt - should be on the front line.

Kim: Exactly.

Sonja: And if reparations ever come down, I think it needs to go by skin color. The darker you are, the bigger your check.
​
Kim: Please sign me up! I completely agree. Because it never ceases to amaze me how fast people who assert to understand these issues retreat to their own privilege when asked to sacrifice for those more marginalized than them.

Sonja: Right.

Jasmin

Michael Brown