An image that haunts me

Venus Hottentot or Sarah.

As I look at the image Zion says, "She loos like you."

When I ask him to explain he says, "your body has shape".

I get what he means. He hit on a very sensitive area for me. How do I embrace, dress and display with pride this body, my body that has shape.

This conversation, in a salon, in 2012, a conversation that encapsulates the distinctions between European and Afro-Caribbean standards of beauty.

My shape is beautiful. The image is haunting because it makes me think of how the black female body had been degraded and objectified. What do people see when they look at me?

I have to embrace my body. As Toni Morrison says, "the crown has been brought and paid for in blood...put it on and wear it..."

I must now put it on and wear it. As a show of thanks.

Whoever you really are, Venus or Sarah, I see you. I am you.