"A WOMAN OF COLOR"
BY
BINA SHARIF
copyright:binasharif 2023 (Dressed in the most beautiful colors with great jewellery)
I AM KARIMA ULLAHF COLOR
I AM A WOMAN OF COLO
I AM HERE TO CELEBRATE MY COLORS.
MY SKIN IS ALSO COLORFUL
NOT ONLY MY WARDROBE
THAT IS THE MOST INCREDIBLE THING
THE SKIN
SKIN HAS TO BE COLORFUL
THAT'S THE FIRST THING THE STRANGERS SEE
THAT'S THE FIRST THING THE STRANGERS NOTICE
AND DECIDE WHETHER TO ;LIKE IT OR NOT...
MOST OF THE PEOPLE DON'T LIKE BRIGHT COLORS
THEY ARE A BIT SHY
BRIGHTNESS IS VERY BOLD
MANY PEOPLE FEEL THAT BRIGHT COLORS DON'T SUIT THEM
MOST OF THE PEOPLE ARE MODERN
MODERN PEOPLE LIKE WHITE
I LIKE WHITE ALSO
WHEN I GO HOME I GET MANY DTESSES MADE, PURE WHITE COTTON, FLOWING
COOL AND COMFORTABLE AND I WEAR THEM IN THE HOT, BLAZING SUMMERS
BUT PEOPLE DON'T NOTICE MY WHITE COLOTHES, THEY ONLY SEE MY SKIN.
MY SKIN IS A BIT DARK AND COLORFUL.
THATS WHY I AM A WOMAN OF COLOR.
SINCE I AM ALWAYS GOING TO BE A WOMAN OF COLOR NO MATTER HOW I DRESS
NO ATTER WHICH COLOR I WEAR, I AM ALWAYS A WOMAN OF COLOR...
THATS THE REASON I AM PROUD.
I PROUDLY SAY THAT I AM A WOMAN OF COLOR...
BUT I DIDN'T KNOW THAT I WAS A WOMAN OF COLOR TILL I CAME HERE...
I WAS A BIT SURPRISED THAT I NEVER NOTICED BACK HOME THAT I WAS A WOMAN OF
COLOR.
WHEN I CAME HERE FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME TO STUDY IN A VERY PRESTIGIOUS
UNIVERSITY, I PACKED TONS OF BRAND NEW COLORFUL CLOTHES IN MY SUITCASE AND FROM THE VERY FIRST DAY OF MY SCHOOL, I WORE MY NEW COLORFUL CLOTHES LIKE I USED TO DO BACK HOME. I WAS VERY FOND OF CLOTHES AND WAS ALWAYS RUNNING TO THE FABRIC STORES AND THEN BACK AND FORTH TO THE TAILOR...
TAILORS BACK HOME ARE CALLED TAILORS BUT HERE THEY ARE CALLED DESIGNERS AND ARE SO EXPENSIVE THAT I WON'T BE ABLE TO HAVE ANY CLOTHES IF i DIDN'T BRING THEM FROM MY HOME. I WOULD BE NAKED MOST OF THE TIME.
THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN GREAT, TO BE TOTALLY NAKED, FREE, DANCING...
BUT MY WHOLE COLORFUL SKIN WOULD BE EXPOSED TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO DISLIKE COLOR. "OH! I THOUGHT ONLY HER FACE WAS A FACE OF COLOR BUT HER WHOLE BODY IS A BODY OF COLOR."
SO, IN MY UNIVERSITY PEOPLE STARTED TO CALL ME, "WOMAN OF COOR."
AND I WAS SO THRILLED, I THOUGHT THAT THEY ARE CALLING ME, A WOMAN OF COLOR BECAUSE OF MY VERY COLORFUL CLOTHES AND I FELT SO THRILLED AND PROUD BECAUSE I MIGHT HAVE BEEN THE ONLY STUDENT WHO WAS SO BRIGHT AND CLOTHED IN MAGENTA, RED, GOLD, AND NILE BLUE.
sO, I STARTED TO THANK EVERY ONE FOR THEM CALLING ME A WOMAN OF COLOR...
IT GAVE ME GREAT PLEASURE THAT THEY ADMIRED MY COLORFUL CLOTHES.
IT WAS SO OBVIOUS TO ME WHY WERE THEY CALLING ME A WOMAN OF COLOR BECAUSE I ALWAYS WORE COLORFUL CLOTHES TILL ONE DAY ANOTHER STUDENT, A FRIEND TOOK ME OUT FOR TEA AND POLITELY EXPLAINED THAT BEING LABELLED
,"A PERSON OF COLOR" WAS SO COMPLIMENTARARY, IT WAS ACTUALLY DEROGATARY.
I WAS A BIT SURPRISED ABOUT HER STATEMENT BUT SHE WAS TRYING TO WARN ME ABOUT SOMETHING...SOMETHING BEYOND MY UNDERSTANDING BECAUSE I WAS ALWAYS VERY FOND OF THE COLOR OF MY SKIN, ACTUALLY EVERYTIME I SAW MYSELF IN THE MIRROR, I LOVED MY FACE, IT WAS KIND OF SANDOORI SHADES, LIKE A MIXTURE OF GOLD, WITH A TINGE OF SHADE OF ROSE AND EXOTICALY PALE...
IN MY PART OF THE WORLD, WE LACKED IRON AND NEVER TOOK MULTIVITAMINS LIKE HERE BUT OUR FACES WERE TANNED AS WELL AND THE PALENESS WAS ALWAYS PLAYING HIDE AND SEEK KIND OF GAMES.
BUT THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS THAT WE DIDN'T THINK OF ALL THIS NONSENSE. WE WERE VERY BUSY STUDYING. EDUCATION WAS THE THING TO GET AHEAD IN THE WORLD. BUT I GUESS I DIDN'T KNOW THAT IT WASN'T THE EDUCATION, IT WAS THE SKIN COLOR...AFTER I BEFRIENDED THE ONE AND ONLY AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENT IN MY CLASS. HOW OULD I NOT BEFRIEND HER?
SHE WAS THE MOST GORGEOUS WOMAN iI HAVE EVER MET. TALL LIKE AN OAK TREE,
SLIM AND SMART, INCREDIBLY SEXY AND SOPHISTICATED AND BRIGHT AND EXTREMELY PLEASANT AND FRIENDLY. ACTUALLY HER SKIN WAS MUCH DARKER AND MUCH MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN MINE. I ADORED HER. WE WERE THE BEST FRIENDS IN THAT STUFFY UNIVERSITY AND GUESS WHAT?
I WASN'T BEING INVITED TO THE FACULTY PARTIES, I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THAT THERE WERE PARTIES GOING ON BECAUSE I WAS HAVING THE LIFE OF A DREAM.
ONE DAY MY FRIEND WHO WAS OF WHITE SKIN ASKED ME, HOW COME I WASN'T AT SUCH AND SUCH PARTY ? AND I SAID I WAS NEVER INVITED...AD SHE SAID, DO YOU KNOW WHY?
AND i SAID, I HAVE NO IDEA...AND SHE SAID BECAUSE YOU ARE HANGING OUT WITH MELINDA TOO MUCH.
"WHAT'S WRONG WITH HANGING OUT WITH MELINDA?" I ASKED HER
AND SHE SAID, "OH! YOU ARE SO NAIVE, AFTER ALL YOU ARE NOT AMERICAN, YOU ARE A FOREIGNER, A VERY IGNORANT FOREIGNER FROM SOME MEDIEVAL COUNTRY.
LET ME TELL YOU WHY YOU ARE NOT BEING INVITED ANY MORE BECAUSE YOU ARE HANGING OUT WITH BLACKS." OOH...OOH...OOH..WHAT'S WRONG WITH THAT? AND SHE WALKED AWAY...
AND I HUNG OUT WITH GREAT JOY WITH MELINDA, HER GIRL FRIEND AND THEIR BOY FRIENDS WHO WERE THE MOST FAMOUS BASKETBALL PLAYERS IN THAT TOWN. THEY WERE SUPERSTARS AND THEN WE WOULD GO TO THE GAMES AND GO TO THE LOCKER ROOMS FOR CHAMPAGNE AND GO DANCING AND DANCING AND LAUGHING AND LAUGHING...I LAUGHED SO MUCH WITH THEM THAT I SPENT ALL MY LAUGHTER AND SINCE THEN I AM DESPERATELY SEEKING MY LAUGHTER, MY BLAK GIRL FRIEND AND TIMES SHE SHOWED ME IN A FOREIGN LAND AND HER KINDNES, AND GENEROSITY AND AFFECTION.
SHE WILL TAKE ME TO HER APT FROM MY LOUSY DORMOTARY CLOSET EVERY WEEKEND AND WE WOULD COOK, EAT, SMOKE, LAUGH AND THEN GO OUT TO SEE FANTASTIC BLAK MUSCIANS...DAYS OF GLORY...I WAS SO THRILLED THAT THEY GAVE ME A LABELL OF, COLOR, A WOMAN OF COLOR AND i WAS WITH OTHER PEOPLE OF COLOR WHO BECAME MY FAMILY...
WE FINISHED OUR DEGREE, ON THE GRADUATION DAY. MELINDA'S FAMILY WAS MY FAMILY...
THIS WAS MY INTRODUCTION TO AMERICA AND TO THE MANY LABELS WHICH HAVE BEEN ATTACHED TO PEOPLE AND BECAUSE OF THAT I BECAME A WOMAN OF COLOR AND FORTUNATELY ENOUGH I MET MANY OTHER PEOPLE OF DIFERENT SHADES AND DIFFERENT ACCENTS AND DIFFERENT LANGUAGES AND MANY DIFFERENT WAYS OF DRESSING AND MANY DIFFERENT EXOTIC FOODS. I MINGLED, I WAS EXCITED TO BE HERE, I KEPT BEING MYSELF, I LIKED MY SELF...
AND THEN I WROTE A PLAY. WITH GREAT PRIDE AND ENTHUSIASM I INTRODUCED MYSELF IN MY VERY FIRST PRESS RELEASE THAT I AM A WOMAN OF COLOR PLAYWRIGHT FROM SUCH AND SUCH A COUNTRY...
I NEVER KNEW THAT THEY, THE AUTORITY OF ALL KINDS INCLUDING THE ARTISTIC LIBERAL AUTHORITY NEITHER LIKED MY SKIN COLOR NOR THE COUNTRY I CAME FROM. SO THEY DIDN'T REALLY REVIEWED MY PLAY BUT REVIEWED MY COUNTRY AND MY SKIN COLOR. I GUESS THE TIMES ARE DIFFERENT NOW...I HOPE SO. THEY ALL TELL ME THAT DIVERSITY IS IN NOW. RACIST ATTITUDES ARE OUT. PEOPLE OF COLOR ARE NOW POLITICALLY CORRECT, BLACK FOLKS ARE POLITICALLY CORRECT.
I GUESS I DIDN'T KNOW THEN AND FOR A LONG TIME THAT I WAS POLITICALLY IN-CORRECT. AND SINCE DIVERSITY IS IN, I THOUGHT I WOULD WRITE ONE MORE PLAY AND PROUDLY LIKE THE VERY FIRST PRESS RELEASE SEND ANOTHER PRESS RELEASE TO THE ARTISTIC AUTHORITY TO COME BACK SINCE NOW MY SKIN COLOR IS POLITICALLY CORRECT AND IS THE FASHION OF THE DAY. I HOPE IT'S STILL THE FASHION OF THE DAY...THINGS CHANGE HERE VERY FAST...SO HURRY UP AND COME SEE THIS WONDERFUL SHOW CALLED, "A WOMAN OF COLOR." BEFORE I BECOME POLITICALLY INCORRECT AGAIN. TODAY I AM POLITICALLY CORRECT. HURRY...WHO KNOWS WHEN I WILL BECOME POLITICALLY IN-CORRECT AGAIN...
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