For this topic I will keep it short. The picture above is a shot of my hand in February to test my camera. My skin tone is light-ish brown and when a camera fails to capture that well I consider it junk. Now onto this thing called skin for a change. Do not expect social justice warrior jargon or rants. Do not expect my complaints about racism and discrimination. I have overcome such issues personally already.

For some context, I live in the Netherlands. The Netherlands until the 1950-ties was a country with a mostly light pink-ish or white skin tone. After the painful decolonisations and influx of migrant workers this changed and people with different roots, cultures and skin tones slowly started to mix. We now live in 2016 and still some people think in nationalistic terms and purity of race.

Whenever there are outburst like “our country for our race,” you know those nationalistic demonstrations among others there is something at play with a complex blend of factors. To name a few factors: historically little diversity until year…; bad experiences; nostalgic sentiments and one-sided media reports. I do not like reading the news these days mainly because there is so much reported on these groups.

Through life, about 27 years now I have had to learn three lessons. One of the first lessons was because I was once picked on and I had to learn to cope. Later in life with small jobs, part-time jobs and full-time jobs I had to learn to adapt and deal with people judging me on first impressions.

• Develop a thick skin for the non-sense out there (to separate the non-sense from the core message).
• When you have to defend yourself become effective (, do stay in control of yourself and avoid violence).
• When necessary prove everybody wrong, work harder and do your thing (and become the best if you have to).

At school I once was the nerd in class because knowledge was my shield and weapon.Often I have worked harder to prove managers wrong until they took me seriously. I lived and learnt. These days I focus on what is necessary and do my thing while trying to enjoy life more.

When people emphasise skin tone keep it simple. Colour is a beautiful thing…