This is who Beyoncé wrote Brown Skin Girl for.

The rest of us get to enjoy the song, but it was written specifically for dark-skinned women and that will not change. #BlackIsKing

Colorism is a complex subject. One that most of is didn’t learn about while growing up.

Colorism has always been normalized within the Black community. It’s not something that was spoken about or even shunned upon.

So I get that a lot of people don’t understand it...

or fully fathom it’s effects upon dark-skinned people.

I only started learning about colorism as an adult on Twitter.

It’s only once I heard dark-skinned women speaking about their traumatic experiences that I began to take an interest in learning about colorism.

In Brown Skin Girl, Beyoncé sings, “there’s complexities in complexion...”

She doesn’t sing those lyrics just to add some spice or because they roll off the tongue, the topic of complexion IS complex.

It’s also not coincidental that all of the women in BGS are DARK-skinned.

For a lot of people, colorism is a new topic. So the understanding is either very little or non-existent.

Not knowing or understanding something is OKAY.

What’s not okay, is refusing to humble yourself, listen, unlearn and learn about colorism. That’s unacceptable.

Colorism, just like racism, is not a joke.

This is not your chance to be witty or to dismiss people’s lives experiences.

At no point did Beyoncé say ONLY DARK-SKINNED WOMEN are allowed to listen to and enjoy Brown Skin Girl.

But again, it’s not by coincidence that the entire cast of Brown Skin Girl are dark-skinned women and an albino woman. That was intentional.

Respect that.

There are sooooo many songs that are dedicated to and star light-skinned-women as the main characters.

Often, those songs deliberately exclude dark-skinned women who don’t look “exotic”.

So, why do you insist on fighting dark-skinned women for this ONE song that’s theirs?

Think of colorism this way:

You know how women have similar struggles but White women still have an advantage over Black women because of the color of their skin?

Colorism is like that too.

As Black women we have similar struggles, but light-skinned women have an advantage.

If you don’t understand colorism or why this chat is such a big deal,

instead of gaslighting dark-skinned women and dismissing their experiences, just shut up and listen.

Don’t TELL them what colorism is.
LISTEN to them tell you about their lived experience.