MELANIN MADAM: TAYLOR C.

21 year old Taylor C is very adventurous and believes in taking risk. She enjoys styling hair, which she has her cosmetology license to prove that. Taylor also enjoys helping and seeing to others. Care taking is a huge passion for her and because that, she plans on going to nursing school. but in the mean time, Taylor has just been focusing on herself and bettering her life...

Taylor and I have been friends for awhile now. And from our first couple of conversations, I could already tell that she was a very caring goodhearted person. She is filled with big dreams and goals that she plans to achieve all before the age of 40. Talking with Taylor seems to always put me in a good mood. we laugh, talk about life, and set new goals every conversation...

one night, Taylor and I went out to eat and we struck up a very interesting conversation. "I hate feeling like some type of trophy" she said to me while we were talking about dating amongst our race. "I feel as though they only like me because im light skin and not for who I really am sometimes" . I could tell it was something that really bothers her by the tone that was in her voice that night...

while we were still on the conversation, Taylor explained to how it was for her growing up in grade school as a light skin black girl. Taylor went from attending a school with kids that looked more like her to soon after attending a predominantly all white school. She explained to me the challenges she faced. Taylor wanted to join her schools dance team but felt out of place because they were all white. "I felt like i was too black for them". she also told me she wanted to be apart of the step team but felt like she was too "white" for them..

we had several other conversations about our experience as young black women growing up in this society...

But through all the discrimination and downs black people face in society, Taylor still expressed how much she loves the skin she's in. "I gave up trying to be anyone else...im proud of who i am, I am proud to be black"