By: Essence Gibbs

People stay mesmerized by your beauty
Curls, soft and bouncy
Lips, plump and full
Your skin, caressed by the light of the sun
You are the blueprint
Attempted to be duplicated, but never quite the same
Your heart overflowing with love and compassion
A living museum of history and oppression
Your melanin marks where you have been but nothing more
Stand tall and remember where you came from
But do not let it define you
For you are more than just a chocolate girl

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Essence is a brown-skinned woman that can often be found prancing with sunflowers in her hair. When not surrounded by petals, she might be covered in icing and flour or developing theories for criminal dramas. She has work forthcoming in Leaves of Ink and has been writing since her early childhood. She was born in Inglewood but was raised in Cerritos, California. After high school she plans to attend Bethune Cookman University where she will play softball and study kinesiology. She hopes to one day join the medical field and help injured athletes. Her family is her biggest muse and support system. Essence is very outgoing, hard-working, goofy, and loves to eat with her family and friends. Besides writing, she loves to listen to music and exercise to ease her overactive mind. You can often find her up late at night looking at recipes and watching softball games. She enjoys meeting new people and making them laugh. In the future, she dreams of opening a bakery business and traveling the world with her family. Essence is a Disney enthusiast, loving all things Disney and fun. She loves going to the beach and watching the sunset. She hopes to inspire other kids to love themselves just as she as learned to love herself.