In 1968, James Brown released his song, "Say It Loud — I'm Black and I'm Proud." The cruelest and saddest effect of slavery and racism in America is that it caused us blacks to hate ourselves. When I was a kid, I picked up an unspoken vibe from my fellow blacks that light-skinned blacks were better than us of a darker completion. "Good hair" meant similar to white. One summer afternoon, my mom yelled, "You kids get in the house! You're gettin' too black out there in that sun!" I remember thinking, What is wrong with getting darker? This mindset is why Brown's black pride anthem was so important and empowering.
