I grew up listening to people say that the African continent is ‘the continent of black people’. But I realised that our black skin is a symbol of beauty, it is what makes us beautiful.

I’ve seen some people who try to change the colour of their skin, sometimes through extreme measures like plastic surgery, but under that lighter tone, there is still a black person.

We should remain with our black skin. I will tell you a short story; a man once proposed to a woman. He loved her dark skin. But the girl started using bleaching creams to become lighter thinking that will make her more beautiful, and the man didn’t like it. He called off the wedding, saying, "I cannot be with you, I just loved your dark skin. I don’t love this white skin.” So embrace your natural beauty. 

We should love our natural skin tone because it makes us unique. Be proud of it.

Nsengiyumva is an aspiring writer at Inyange Girls School of Science