Dear,
Layla
You are beautiful. You are beautiful inside and out and whatever you do, I need you to stay that way. Do not become like everyone else. Our mother, our sister, all of the influential women in your life right now. They are wrong. They do not think. They wear wigs to hide their natural hair. They wear make up hide their natural beauty. They bleach their skin for no reason at all. They wear heels that hurt their feet. They act dumb to hide that they are smart. They get surgeries and they starve themselves to look thinner and more "beautiful". They do these things because they think it is what is expected of them. They think it is the right thing to do. But as I said before, they are wrong.
You are beautiful. You wear your natural hair and let everyone see your natural skin. You have confidence. You wear what you like and what you are comfortable in. And not only are you a beautiful person with a beautiful personality, you also have a beautiful mind. You think. You think about the world around you. Where others just nod and do as they are told, you ask "Why?" You do not do this to be disrespectful. You do this because you are genuinely curious. You are like me. I don’t say this to make it seem like I am perfect. I'm far from it. We are far from it. But if you are going to follow in someone's footsteps, follow in mine. I beg you. Do not become like them. Follow me.
We are beautiful. Other people see a homeless man or woman and give them loose change from their pockets without a single thought. We must be the people who see a person in need and wonder "Who is this person? How did they get to be where they are right now? Why did they end up where they did?" I think about these things on a daily bases but you can do better than me. Instead of just wondering, you can be the one who is not afraid to walk up and ask. You have to put your beautiful mind to use. You must think about everything. When you walk, you must think about the men who made the sidewalk that you walk on. You must think about every person who has ever walked there before you and wonder where they were going. When you talk, you must think about the people who have said the exact same thing that you are saying. And when you see something too beautiful to put into words, you must think about everyone who has seen it before you and who will see it after.
We are beautiful. I have yet to meet someone like us. Someone who wonders the things that I have or the things that you will wonder but this does not mean they do not exist. I have hope. I have hope that somewhere in the world is a person who thinks the way we do and sees the world as it is. You should too. Do not get me wrong. Most of the people in the world we live in will not understand. They women still care about what men think of them and spend thousands of dollars on the perfect dress that they will only wear once and that is okay. We can not expect this world that still judges people on their weight, religion, race, sexuality, and many other things to change over night or even over a decade. We just have to spread the word and with time, lots and lots of time, they will come around. We just have to hope that by then, it isn't too late.
And if I have not said it enough, you are beautiful. Spread the word: Smart is beautiful. You are beautiful.
Love,
Your Big Sister, Nyla
