Reflecting on my Mission... by B. Woodard

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I’ve always been the only Brown girl/African-American in my class (dance, etc). I also knew even before my 1st day that my school was going to be a place where I would be able to have great days and take all sorts of exciting academic risks. So when my classmates would ask for the “skin-color crayon”—meaning Peach—I was confused. And I was confused for a while about that and then decided that it should stop. So, after a conversation with my mom, she thought I should begin handing over the brown crayon. But I felt strongly that I needed to find my own solution and instead began asking, “What Color do you want...because it can be any number of beautiful colors?” And my classmates and teacher heard me loud and clear and began using the same language...until Peach was no longer the default. So More than Peach is about understanding that there’s much more than what we may default to, whether it’s the one Peach or the one Brown...or whatever. And knowing that we aren’t done until we’re all part of the story. So a big brand may have decided to call only one crayon “flesh”—inspiring generations—but I felt that reversing that would correct that narrative to hopefully inspire us all in a different way—where not a single one of us is left out. So yep, they’re all “skin-color” with #MorethanPeach...and that’s why! ❤️-Bellen