"The last time I saw my father, I was four years old, and I’m almost 30 now. Not knowing him has had a big impact on my life: I missed having his love, missed being able to share my life experiences with him, missed those daddy-daughter dances. He just wasn’t there for me. That kind of devastating loss is one of the themes I explore in my first novel, Daughter Cry No More. The emotions I experienced as a young girl are similar to those of the main character, although her story is her own. Raine knows her father, but he and his family reject her because they are light-skinned and she is dark; they are certain that her mother must have had an affair. The racism aspect of the novel has roots in my childhood too. I grew up in a very diverse neighborhood on the north side of Chicago and was not even aware of racial issues until we moved to the South when I was 12 years old. It was a total culture shock when I first saw people being mean to each other over the color of their skin. I was never bullied in that way, but I saw it close up. I want the young girls who read this book to realize that we are all beautiful and that beauty doesn’t depend on outward appearance.
“The experience of growing up the way I did has a lot to do with what I looked for in a husband. I married a man who is loving, caring, kind, and adores kids. I knew I wanted a man like him to be the father of my children. He’s the kind of man who would never desert his family.”
“The experience of growing up the way I did has a lot to do with what I looked for in a husband. I married a man who is loving, caring, kind, and adores kids. I knew I wanted a man like him to be the father of my children. He’s the kind of man who would never desert his family.”
LeTresa Payne holds a B.S. in psychology, is pursuing an M.S. in mental health counseling, and is a social worker for the state of Tennessee. Her first novel, Daughter Cry No More, is available through Amazon. She recommends the following films on colorism:
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