Dear Tyler, Ashlynn, and Christian,

When you are old enough to understand some bits and pieces of the world, you will hopefully one day see this article and tease me about writing it.

You will be made aware of your identity the older you get and you'll see how the world has changed and question whether or not it has been good. The president would have changed so you won't have to hear "Make America Great Again" and have to explain why America has never really been that great but it's decent enough.

This world has degraded you centuries ago and I pray you never have to experience any of it. As much as I wish and pray, I know the world you have been placed in and I want you to be aware that society will be against you sometimes and when that happens, keep pushing forward.

There are people who feel threatened when they see the shade of your skin, they might fear you. Watch out for those people and stay safe.

You three are my beautiful nephews who are different shades of melanin and I want you to cherish your skin. Cherish the fact that you are alive and that you will survive. Promise yourselves that you will not let society gorilla glue a mask onto who you truly are.

I beg that you embrace yourself to the fullest and accept who you are because society will try to force you into a generalized box and try to tell you that anything feminine is considered weak.

I apologize for some of the habits or things I've possibly said to add to the ignorance of making boys see certain behaviors and objects feminine. I don't care what your parents say if it hinders you from feeling free and at peace with who you are, ignore their words.

Some of the things they say will actually be helpful and some will be because of how they were raised and their mindset. So I'm not giving you a free pass to disrespect and ignore everything they say, but take their parenting and dissect it to the point of knowing what to follow and what to just say, "hey, that's not right" or just to speak up about what you actually feel.

Emotions are not weak. They do not make you less of a "man". Don't let society try to masculinize you to the point at which you forget who you are. Your clothes, actions, words, choices, sexuality, etc. does not define you. Express yourself and love yourself.

Love the skin you are in and you will survive.