Skin Color

My skin colour
Is dark
An almost cocoa brown

There is no denying
That within a crowd of white
People
I stand out
Because of what my skin colour
Represents

I am First Nations
Though I have often been
Mistaken
For many other different races

A race other than my own
I ask

Your skin
Is white
Pale in comparison
To mine
But you are First Nations too

You walk in two worlds
And I ask you
How do you do it?

Inside I know it must
Be difficult

Because I cannot fathom
What it is like to look like
The dominant race

But know through familial lines
You are First Nations
The people who came here
First

My skin colour
Is dark
An almost cocoa brown
There is no denying
That within a crowd of white
People
I stand out
Because of what my skin colour
Represents

I ask why is race
So important

Your skin is white
Pale in comparison to mine
But you are First Nations also

Together, though
We are united
Our skin colour does not matter
To us
We are united
For who we are

We are First Nations women
And sisters with similar struggles

Trying to make it in a world
Where race is questioned
And differences are held against
Us.

First appeared in First Nations House Magazine.