I Like My Brown Skin Because...: Celebrating the Heritage of African American Children

I Like My Brown Skin Because…was written after a four-year-old asked his grandmother if her brown skin ever made her sad, and then asked her why she liked her brown skin so much. “I was shocked by his words and I knew my grandchild was hurting.”

This must-read book is an answer to his questions. The author, a history teacher, begins by saying all skin is good and it is healthy for you to like the skin you are in. (“If I were green, I would be telling you why I like my green skin.”) Then she starts telling her grandchild about dark-skinned people in West Africa and the beautiiful civilizations they created. From there she moves through the slave trade and slavery, tallking about survival and victories along the way. She talks about the period before the Civil War when European Americans joined the struggle to end slavery, and the period after the Civil War when African Americans continued to move forward. Mrs. Davis smiles when she tells her grandson about the significance of education and the establishment of schools and colleges. She talks about African American inventors whose creativty helped all people, and soldiers who fought in every war the United States has ever fought. She talks about the Civil Rights movement and the bravery of those people (both black and white) who participated in it.

“Does my brown skin ever make me sad?? No way. My brown skin reminds me of other African Americans who did great things. When I think of them, I smile. My brown skin does not make me sad; it makes me smile. I like my brown skin: I like me.”