'Nuff sey anything wey black never sweet/ So dem start sey a brown skin a d'weet/ Now a pharmacy we sight dem a reach/ Dem go burn up dem self wid di bleach!'

I-Wayne Dash A Fya Pon Di Bleacha

People's bodies and physical structures are suited for the climate from which they originate.

The native Europeans are pale because of minimal exposure to the sun; their hair is straight for the sole purpose of keeping them warm in their cold weather.

African bodies are built differently. Our skin is dark; this is our natural protection from the blazing sun that we would encounter in Africa. Our hair is naturally 'natty'; this is to keep it from our bodies, which would only generate unnecessary heat.

However, increasingly emerging and undermining the dignity of black people is the growing phenomenon of bleaching. It is not exclusively Jamaican. Check Haiti, the Bahamas, the UK, Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa, and these once-upon-a-time black people can be seen bleaching.

Neither is it exclusive to any specific area, look downtown, in the country, uptown and under a rock, and see us change like Michael Jackson without his skin disease. From chemicals built for this specific purpose, to curry powder, toothpaste, lime and bleach, African people are peeling away their heritage.

In addition to peeling away our heritage there are also serious health problems associated with the process of bleaching.

Jamaica is one hot and blazing tropical country. The substance in our skin that makes us dark (melanin), also protects us from the harmful Ultra-Violet (UV) rays of the sun.

This is the perfect substance to ensure our security. But when we bleach and remove the melanin we expose ourselves to unnecessary skin damage. I-Wayne has perfectly analogised it as a game of hide-and-seek between the sun the bleacher.

My concern is that soon enough black people (on account of the bleachers) will become the main victims of skin-related disorders. Melanoma or skin cancer was once non-existent among black people, but slowly and surely we are falling prey to it and ensuring our demise.

Also, since melanin is governed by our genes it is not only the bleacher who suffers. Just as a crack baby is born to the fate that his parents pre-ordained for him, so is it the same with a 'bleachers baby'. More and more children will be born naked as it relates to protection from extreme heat and extreme light that we experience in Jamaica.

So stop hating yourself! The Bible itself glorifies black people in Psalm 68 'Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia (Africa) shall soon stretch forth Her hands unto God.'
Learn to love the skin which you are in!

Mothers can't father

Trousers in Denim

Cream of the 'Crop'