Tag: poems

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2014 Colorism Poetry Contest Results

Thank you to everyone who submitted poetry or encouraged someone else to submit. We received over 300 incredible poems.

Thank you to the judges Opal Palmer-Adisa, Sharon G. Flake, and Calida Rawles for volunteering their time to make this contest a reality.

And thank you, dear reader, simply for caring.

Here are the results of the 2014 Colorism Poetry Contest

Division 1: Ages 10-14

Winner:

“Just the Color” by Jabari Butler

Honorable Mentions

“Accepted” by Rebecca Jimenez

“Ares Red” by Gia Spann

“Deep are the Victims” by Sophia Grudzina

“My Light Shines” by Khloe Henry

Division 2: Ages 15-19

Winner:

“Midnight Girl” by Marlana Edwards

Honorable Mentions

“The Blacker the Berry” by Kiki Nicole

“Color and its ‘ism'” by Kolby Whack

“Scarred Eyes” by Joy Choe

“Whatchu Mixed Wit?” by Eric Powell Jr. aka E.L.P.J

Division 3: Ages 20+

Winner:

“For my Little Black Girl” by Danielle Milton

Honorable Mentions

“All that is Left” by Heidi Rhodes

“Minority (Colon) Talented” by Crystal Armstrong

“Prism” by Sydney Odell

“That Would Be” by Paulamia Pass

Congratulations!

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Fair Weather: A Poem About Colorism

3 siblings close up, one boy and two girls, for a poem about colorism

I wrote the following poem about colorism when I was in junior high, circa 1997. I don’t remember my exact age or the exact time. I do know that this was the first time I’d ever expressed my thoughts about colorism, and It was more than a decade later before I ever tried to speak or write about colorism again.

One of the reasons I wanted to launch the Colorism Poetry Contest is to give people the kind of platform that I would have benefited from. Rather than writing poems and tucking them away in notebooks, never to be shared with anyone, this contest will give people the chance to offer their expressions to the whole world.

What I hope the collection of poetry submissions will show is the diversity of ideas and experiences with colorism, as well as the similarities.

For those who have never attempted to write a poem about colorism, the Colorism Poetry Contest serves as a prompt that can get people to really think about colorism–what it means, how it makes them or others feel, and how it affects individual lives.

The professional, career writer in me could make a thousand revisions and edits to this poem, but I left it as it was originally written, true to who I was at that time. What’s published below is a peak into what’s driven me over the years to eventually dedicate myself to this work.

3 siblings close up, one boy and two girls, for a poem about colorism
Me and my two siblings in the 90’s

 

Fair Weather: A Poem About Colorism

by Sarah L. Webb circa 1997

It took a while for me to remember

That rainy, gray morning in September

A girl with skin like the sun

Didn’t stop me from having fun

A lot of attention is what she got

Friends try to bring me along

I say I would rather not

Because right here the will is strong

The two of us they try to compare

But I’m used to it, so I don’t care

I don’t care if her hair is long

With my hair I see nothing wrong

So what if I have darker skin

I’m not deprived of any finesse

And might I say again

It adds to my gracefulness

The guys try to put her in my place

Because they claim she has a prettier face

But I can, without the slightest hint of a try,

See myself as beautiful until I die