I like skin, especially my skin. From the palest ivory to the darkest ebony, allskin is beautiful to me. My skin is a sweet confection of caramel and toastedalmonds blended perfectly to create my complexion. So is my mom's skin tone andDee's. Ashaunta has a dark chocolate tone to her skin, which Dee doesn't like toomuch, but I think it is beautiful.

I often wonder why people hate or teasebecause of something as trivial as the color of skin. One time four boy ageseight to ten were playing Monopoly in front of my house. Two were honey coloredwith a hint of brown sugar. Their skin tone is what most black people would call"pretty." The other two were darker, with one a little lighter than theother. A situation arose, causing one of the darker-skinned boys to feel thelighter-skinned boy wasn't playing fairly. He confronted the light-skinned boy ina calm manner.

The boy snapped back, "Don't tell me how to play! Iknow what I'm doing, so shut up, you burnt biscuit!"

This didn'tshock me because I've heard lighter-skinned black people ridicule darker-skinnedblack people. This wasn't just a childish act between two boys, it has gone onfor ages. My mom once told me that when she was in college, there was a brownpaper bag taped to the door at parties. You had to put your hand next to the bag,and if you were darker than the bag, you would not be admitted. How ignorant isthat?

I love all shades of skin, especially black skin. Black skin has somany tones, how could one hate it, especially if it were your own? When blackpeople talk about other black people because of the color of their skin, they arejust as prejudiced as a white person who is prejudiced ... or possibly more.