Kimberly S. Stephens

Shaded Kimberly S. Stephens

Shaded is a story of self-hatred and denial. A played out tragedy about the shame, confusion and anger experienced by a family refusing to deal with their insecurities about skin color and race. Society refuses to talk about these children. The babies of racial denial who question who they are and where they fit in this color conscious world. Saul thought marrying a woman of a different race would make him feel better. Ease the pain and shame that taunted him in his dreams. His children would save him. They were his to own and keep like trinkets on a shelf. They were his trophies to display. His mixed babies would gain him the respect and envy he yearned for while growing up in the projects of Chicago. Enter a world of confusion. Witness the circumstances and emotions that helped shape a family?s legacy of deceit. I must deal with it if I am going to help my child love himself and understand the consequences of blind love in a society blinded by the stereotypes of race and skin color. This is my new family. A family obscured from truth?s light, a family shaded. Shaded is based on a true story.