Kheris Rogers can’t forget the grade school humiliation. During an assignment where the students had to draw themselves, the teacher handed the shy dark-skinned girl a black crayon instead of a brown one.
“I was the darkest of all of them,” the stunning 11 year old recalls of her classmates. “But they were all African-American.”
Rogers had earlier transferred from another school to escape the incessant bullying. It didn’t work. Her complexion set her apart, a label she couldn’t shed.
But now Rogers owns her label, literally. Her clothing line is called “Flexin’ In My Complexion.” The brand has caught fire among some big celebrities.
As a young girl, Rogers turned to her grandmother for some encouraging words. “Flex in your complexion” was the advice that made the shy girl feel beautiful in her own skin if only for a moment.
The saying became a family phrase.
The phrase became a hashtag, #FlexinInHerComplexion. When Roger’s sister Taylor Pollard tweeted it out with some family photos, the response was overwhelming.
Twitter users complemented Roger’s skin and hair, saying she was beautiful. Many said they had been through similar bullying and teasing for their skin color when they were young.
“When she saw those comments, she was like, ‘Oh my god, this is what people really think about me,'” Pollard told CNN.
That was when the two sisters decided to put their message, “Flexin’ In My Complexion,” on T-shirts. They started the business in late April of 2017, and it’s taken off.
Continue reading this inspiring article here at CNN.com
By Elizabeth Elkin and Ben Burnstein, CNN