"I would be nothing without you...Did you ever know that you're my hero? You're everything I wish I could be. I could fly higher than an eagle, for you are the wind beneath my wings."
"As we go on, we remember, all the times we've had together. And as our lives change, come whatever, we would still be friends forever."
"I'll be at your side, there's no need to worry. Together we'll survive through the haste and hurry...If you feel like you're alone, and you've nowhere to turn I'll be at your side."
This whitening obsession actually stretches back to the biblical and post-biblical times. This conception, however, was then shared only among the female population. The ancient Greek and Roman women applied lead paint and chalks to �whiten� their exposed skin, especially their faces. Asian women, on the other hand, used to grind pearls from seashells into powder and swallow it, believing that this will lighten their skin color. That would be a very foolish, if not ludicrous, beauty regimen these days; even �Kay Susan Tayo� or �F� couldn�t come up with an idea as revolutionary as that.
In the Philippines, the Spanish era signaled the start of prejudice against dark-complexioned. Our forefathers were even called �indios� and degraded to an ultimately low social status not even uneducated �yayas� deserved to be called. And this unjust treatment was mainly due to our �kayumanggi� skin color (along with other physical characteristics, of course).
When we were finally freed from the three hundred years of bondage from the Spanish rulers, a couple of foreign conquerors followed suit. Again, these were two white-complexioned (though the other is more popular as the yellow race) powerful forces.
But the issue was one that goes beyond merely colors. It was one related with culture, power, prejudice, and racial differences. The white races were the powerful ones; we were degraded because we were small, �pango� and �kayumanggi.� In our minds, an inferior mentality that being dark is to be weak, ugly, and low-grade was cultivated.
Then there�s the dark, pessimistic conception that we Filipinos instilled in the minds of other Filipinos. This may be a more class-related struggle, but it that transcends along all class boundaries. Again, in the back of our minds, a notion was formed that dark skin is repulsive and ugly. Dark skin was the most blatant signpost that shouts �I�m an unfortunate fragment of humanity whose grandparents toiled the lands and whose children�s children will continue toiling the land.� This one may be an extreme scenario nowadays, although it�s not an exaggeration years ago.
"In a universe of ambiguity, this kind of certainty comes only once,and never agin,no matter how many lifetimes youlive."
(Robert Kinkaid on Francesca Johnson; The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller)
"It hurts me more than it hurts you."
(Ma'am San Joaquin; CommRes120 class)
"I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride; so I love you because I know no other way than this: where I does not exist, nor you, so close that your hand on my chest is my hand, so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep."
(Pablo Neruda)
"I am nothing special, of this I am sure. I am a common man with common thoughts, and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten, but I've loved another with all my heart and soul, and to me, this has always been enough."
(from The Notebook by Nicolas Sparks)
"When a person really wants something,all the Universe in the world conspires to help that person realize his dream."
(from The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho)