Two Haitians and a Jamaican: I Am Black and I Am Proud.

I really needed this.

The people around me tend to question if I am proud to be black.

I am! I love my history, my culture and the people who share it with me.

I go to an HBCU for heavens sake.

Just because I don't talk like you, walk like you or dress like you doesn't mean I'm not black; it means i'm educated. Those stereotypes who walk around should be the ones being questioned. If you were really proud to be black- proud to be from the same motherland of Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks and Muhammad Ali- then why wouldn't you want to showcase the best of your talents.

When people think of me I want to think of an educated, well-mannered, well spoken, worldly young woman who can carry her own.

I am happy that BET actually used their power to showcase the amazing black women and the handsome black men who believe in us and crave the best for us.

Because when the day is done, I want to go home to an Idris Elba not a Weezy F. Baby.

I want my kids to look up to mommy & daddy and not think that they cant do anything because of their skin color or their hair texture. I want them to shoot for the stars and never feel like they have to be something other than themselves because that's what people are expecting of them.

Just because the people around me are not the people I want them to be, doesn't mean there are not people like me hiding somewhere.

hashtag dark & lovely

hashtag black & educated