First, I would like to begin my letter to you with quotes from our fellow sisters.
“I used to think I was the strangest person in the world, but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me, too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it’s true I’m here, and I’m just as strange as you.” — Frida Kahlo
“There are little Indian girls out there who look up to me, and I never want to belittle the honor of being an inspiration to them. But while I’m talking about why I’m so different, white male show runners get to talk about their art. I always get asked, ‘Where do you get your confidence?’ I think people are well-meaning, but it’s pretty insulting. Because what it means to me is, ‘You, Mindy Kaling, have all the trappings of a very marginalized person. You’re not skinny, you’re not white, you’re a woman. Why on earth would you feel like you’re worth anything?’” — Mindy Kahling
“I’m not the average girl from your video and I ain’t built like a supermodel. But I learned to love myself unconditionally, because I am a queen.” — India Arie
My sisters, we live in a world today that has become too keen on putting us down because of our skin color, our looks, our hair texture, and our size. It has become a normal ideal that should not be. We have little queens in the making not being able to find that one girl in the media that they can say, she looks like me. It is heartbreaking that it is still an issue of our image being overly sexualized time and time again by men of color who should be holding us to higher standards. My sisters, as a young queen in the making I am saddened by the fact that many of our Kings do not see themselves as such.We as a community are folding into society’s institutionalized pressures and it should not be this way.
I am writing this letter not to simply tell you things you already may know, but to remind you of the beauty and power that we as women of color have. We were all born queens. Queens meaning that we are destined for greatness, success, and a sense of grace that is as natural as our motherly instincts. I know it's hard to realize that we are queens. But you have to climb that mountain within and reach the top so that you can begin your journey on top of the world in your throne. It took me 19 years, a year in college, and several months of reflection to figure out that I am a queen and I am beautiful. It does not matter that your hair is natural or if you skin has more pigmentation than someone else. It doesn’t matter if your lips are big, your nose is wide, and your hips are thick. You are beautiful. You are a queen and it is time for us to stop allowing men and society to degrade our royalty.
So many can ask me, how do I achieve this? If you are a woman of color meaning, a woman who is a part of a community of an oppressed group then you are already on that path to queendom. You have to accept your looks and be able to everyday look into the mirror and say, “I am beautiful.” Then your next step is to continue to push yourself and reach your dreams. Find what makes you happy in life and grab ahold of it. Finally, my sister you must continue to uplift other queens in the making like myself. You have to be that leader, the one that little queens can point to on TV and say, “She looks like me.”
But before I end this letter, my sisters. There is one thing I want you to always remember and this a little poem I tell myself every day to get through.
I am a queen.
Q: Quite different than the rest. But one who will rise above them all.
U: U are beautiful. U are smart. U are going to succeed.
E: Even when it seems like the odds are against you; you will still make it.
E: Everyone falls down once or twice. But queens learn from it and keep moving.
N: Never loose hope.
I am a queen.
Sincerely,
Your fellow sister of color
