I Thought Having Lighter Skin Would Make Me Easier to Love

Monterica Sade Neil
Nov 5 · 8 min read

Growing up, I faced a lot of ridicule at home. Whenever my grandmother wasn’t around, my two light-skinned siblings would bombard me with violence or insults or both, seemingly out of nowhere. My skin complexion was their all-time favorite target. Though I can’t tell you exactly what was said. Those memories are somewhere hiding, and no matter how much I called out to them while writing…

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Monterica Sade Neil

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I’m a queer, Southern, Black woman writer and spiritualist. I miss the South dearly. Follow me on Twitter & Instagram @montericasade. Thanks for reading.

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