Since a young age of buried my face in fairness creams
every face wash a slap on my face because I knew I was trying to change my identity
I knew I never be beautiful because I was a skin tone which was ugly
Looking in the mirror everyday I became my own critic
No thigh gap, no skinny waist, dark skin were few of those countless insecurities
Sidecasted glances would fall my way and this I knew was a guarantee
So I asked myself why can't I be
good enough so that the world can see

from every face this one on answer I got
ask yourself "isn't my body,my colour, enough to tell me?"
I asked my ma does this really matter
for I'd thought that more than an hourglass shaped body
what matters is being a good somebody
I thought in my scars flaws and imperfections
I wore my prized perfections
That aunty sipping her wonderful brown tea
looks at me, exactly the same colour as her drink of pleasure
nonchalantly suggests this list of wonderful fairness creams
the irony in this almost killed me
And that's when I decided no more is it gonna be this way
Im gonna become my first lover
look in the mirror, smile at what stares back at me
I am not going to let these things make me feel small
I am proud of them, they make me who I am
So I'm gonna go out and make a change
the entire world's gonna be My stage
the people are gonna sit and listen
and I'll smile as I see certain faces glistening with shame
and for most, insecurities leaving their brains
we'll make this world a better place
so no more will skins be bathed in cosmetics and creams
I am a brown beauty and I proudly say this,
So why just fair and lovely say brown and beautiful
forget snow White, say hello to chocolate brown
I'll write my own story, my own fairytale

when magazines stop putting fair girls on covers calling them brown
when fair won't be what's 'fair' anymore
when people start looking beyond body types and skin colours
when instead of the search for fair people
we begin searching for people who treat family
when someone's stand on the humanitarian scale
Will start mattering more than on the fairness scale
a world where all colours are the same
where love comes in all shapes and shades
Where insecurities about our bodies will start to fade
will go from being ideal to becoming our reality.