My Rainbow Umbrella

My umbrella symbolizes colors of the rainbow.

My umbrella symbolizes gay pride.

I carry it with pride.

My pride is my deep understanding of being an AFRICAN American woman living in a society that labels us based on colors.

We come in all colors and shades. The shades of black women represent our history in America. Like a rainbow, black women are radiant. We are light. We shine even on rainy days.

The Isley Brothers say it best:

Oh, I believe you are a rainbow

All the heaven I need to see

You’re the promise everlasting

Where you are, I hope to be…

I wake up every morning with my mind focused on honoring my MOM for raising a strong woman. A lady that will survive being a black woman. My umbrella stands for strength. It has the colors of the rainbow.

Growing up we admired many rainbows. We were told a pot of gold was at the end of a rainbow. It represents good luck.

Why do I care so much about an old and colorful umbrella? I care because it has recently bought attention to my smile, my smoking hot shaved hairdo, my makeup free face, and my super swag!

Walking, smiling at strangers admiring my flow. Not once believing my strangers viewed me as anything but a friendly face AFRICAN American woman. I hardly noticed my umbrella increased my pleasantries. It’s raining and I’m holding my favorite umbrella pointed to the sky. It never flips back in the Chicago wind.

I love my rainbow color umbrella. I bought it on sale many years ago. I couldn’t believe I scored a big beautiful umbrella at a fraction of the cost of others that flipped backwards and failed me over and over again.

My umbrella tells strangers I represent a culture I’m not familiar with. It’s an object with more freedom of expression than me. It controls what strangers believe I represent.

I represent an AFRICAN American woman before all other labels. I’m not gay. I support gay rights though. I carry my umbrella when it rains. It’s my favorite umbrella.

Now that I know the colors represent many facets of societal beliefs, I will keep my umbrella handy to protect me. I welcome the warm smiles.

Stay colorful good people 🙂

Thank you for reading!

crystal

Go to Integrated Marketing Communications by crystal to get the marketing version of this article.