#actually poc

A term that is exclusive to POC’s/people of colour who have a preference in attraction to other POC’s or are exclusively attracted to other POC’s.

I have not been able to find any POC4POC/Person of colour4Person of Colour flags anywhere even tho I’m sure it has to have existed already at some point. This is my take on a POC4POC flag. I tried to use a range of skin tones, obviously I can’t include every single skin tone that exists on this flag as that would probably be thousands of stripes but hopefully this range is okay.

Flag by: @arcticflowerz

Do not repost my flags/the things I coin with out credit.

I went camping last week with my mom and dog. It was an hour away and on a lake, and we had a great time. But there was one thing that happened. 

For context, I am a person of color - my skin is brown, I have non-white features (button nose, thin eyebrows, etc.). I also tend to dress androgynously - that day I was wearing a swimming shirt and shorts, with a slight bump where my boobs were (don’t bind and swim unless you’re wearing a binder made for it!!), and a backwards baseball cap. I am also disabled - I was wearing braces (knees) and was ticcing (little ha’s, look out’s, and head jerks). 

I was waiting in line, doing my own thing, minding my own business, when I turn around for a second to see a man watching me. He was pretty tall, hefty, and was glaring at me. 

“Can I help you?” I asked after a moment. Every possible outcome went through my head. 

But he scoffed and rolled his eyes, disgusted. 

“I bet you haven’t seen a tranny or a cripple in a while, have you?” I said. 

He looked shocked, and I turned around and ignored him. 

I was terrified. It flew out of my mouth before I could think twice. I stood up for myself by calling him out, pointing out his issues, and then ignoring him, as well as reclaiming two slurs. However, I could have antagonised him. I could have made him mad. I could have made things so much worse. 

At the end of the day, I doubt anything much changed. He probably just thought that I was a jerk, and didn’t think anything more. I’m physically safe. But it made me feel more powerful. 

I don’t know what the message of this is, but this is the sort of thing that I deal with every time I go into public. Being a person of color is an experience that has no comparison. None. Being physically disabled means that you can be hated for the way your body is, and being a POC means being hated because of how much melanin is in your skin (simplified). 

I guess there are two things that I want to say: 

1) If you see someone staring at someone else in disgust, hatred, etc., and you are safe to do so, say something. To the person staring or the person being stared at. A simple ‘leave them alone’ or a quiet ‘I’m here in case something happens’ goes a long way.