I read with great interest your views on my thread 'Elevation or Annihilation and found it very interesting as it is a very educated view about a very emotive subject and unfortunately not many of those in our race can tackle such a subject, a loaded one at that with such objectivity, so let me commend you firstly for that. I posted the topic because it is one very close to my heart as a conscious Black Sistah.

These are my findings, I agree with everything you've said, we are the makers of our own destiny, and at the same time have the power to destroy what ultimately the creator gave us naturally, that is our beauty, worldwide we are the largest consumers; as not only Black people, but Black women of beauty products, designed to harness and enhance that which we were naturally born with, we have to all intent and purposes immersed ourselves in the perpetuation of a culture of beauty that bears no resemblance to our own, and continually give props to a billion dollar industry that bears no real relation to how we as Black people and especially women see ourselves.

This is bourn out by the fact that our spiritual and mental philosophy is now shaped inwardly by an industry trying to sell us what it now means to be BLACK. Here's the bottom line, I am a Black woman, who is proud of the richness of my hue, and the fascination it still generates every day, by those who feel it necessary to try and dilute or water it down, I could give many instances of how the so-called 'beauty industry' is working to globalize, myth and stereotype, conjecture and falsity about our unique beauty as Black women, the instances are endless, and I write only to empower not to negate who we are as a race.

The absolute truth is that, as Black women, regardless of the depth of colour, regardless of the stereotypes the industry may try and bind to us, regardless of the billion dollar industry that is still trying to dilute who we are. Black will always be Black and there is a innate beauty in knowing that regardless of what the beauty industry tries to add or take away, true acknowledgement of just how much we are worth as a race, comes from within, yes, mentally, to a degree we have been brainwahed into believing that the more European you look, the easier your journey through life, yet creating our own agenda for beauty always has to be the key because it's ironic how buttock implants, lip implants and fake tans are on the increase for a large majority of European women, that in and of itself speaks volumes, we as Black women continue to set the standard/s for beauty without even trying can any other race attest whole-heartedly to that.

We as Black women will never have too far to go in terms of our empowerment if we embrace the fact, that we are unique, and truly beautiful because we are unique. To those Black women who don't want or who have not yet woken up to this fact it is time for the mentally elevated among us to sound the alarm.