My Daughter Loves Her Black Skin—This Will Be Her Antidote to Racism

I take delight in hearing my daughter talk about how she loves her skin color. Or when she says, "She's beautiful," when she sees a Black woman on television.

While these may seem like small things, to me they're huge, because I didn't always feel that way when I was growing up. Then again, many things have changed since I was a kid.

My daughter has Michelle Obama and Kamala Harris in her world and is living amid their excellence, not just reading a book about past heroes and wondering what they must have been like.

I'm able to show her films and read her books that center on Black characters; there's a wealth of them. I keep pictures in our home of strong Black figures. And I do all of this in hopes that when my daughter encounters racism, which she will, her knowledge that Black is beautiful, strong, and accomplished will help her call that bigotry what it is and keep it from sinking in, changing how she feels about herself.

I have tremendous faith that she can rise above that, because even at age 4, she's already so sound and secure in her Blackness.

This article originally appeared in Parents magazine's June 2021 issue as "Black Parenting Joy: The Antidote." Want more from the magazine? Sign up for a monthly print subscription here