MY LIFE: A Journey to Self-Love

The journey to self-love is never easy, or easy to see your way through. When you don’t fit the conventional standards of beauty or see young women who look like you featured in the Black media you consume, how do you learn to love yourself and see yourself as beautiful? How do you come to terms with having a wide nose, broad shoulders, dark skin, imperfect skin, hyperpigmentation, thick hair, being overweight, or having and no hips, no butt, or no breasts in the age of the “Bad Bitch?”

One young woman, Dana D., shares her complicated, relatable story. Spoiler alert - it’s hard work, and it seems like it never ends.

 “ I write this for the young ladies that experience the ups and downs that come with accepting themselves. I understand that it is a daily challenge for some of us to accept our hyper pigmentation, our hair texture, our curves, and our facial features. You are not weak for enduring these things, and your very existence deserves all of the love and care you invest in yourself, reflected right back to you. Don’t change for anybody.”

“One of the most important things I’ve had to learn is that self-love is not only an everyday choice, but a never-ending process I’ll have to endure for the rest of my life. ”