Bermuda has been hit by another storm. And like many before it, this one has left quite a mark on the country’s landscape.

Was it Hurricane Fay? No. Hurricane Gonzolo? Nope.

This one was named Hurricane Llarisa Abreu, the Accuweather host on ZBM.

Ms Abreu has caused plenty of Bermudian men and women to comment almost nightly about her brief appearances.

For the most part, people forget the actual weather forecast because they put so much focus on her physical traits and/or whatever she is or is not wearing on that any night.

It has gone as far as her reporting that many Bermudian men have sent her marriage proposals and the like.

The nights she isn’t on, some women mockingly taunt men on Facebook, asking if they are going through withdrawal symptoms.

Sounds really funny, huh?

Well, for quite a few women, this has reopened old wounds that never seem to heal. Many of these wounds are well known, while others are now coming to light.

Worldwide, persons of African descent are subject to racism on a daily basis. Compounding this evil, they are also subjected to colourism.

What is colourism you ask? It is defined as “prejudice or discrimination against individuals with a dark skin tone, typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group”.

Here in Bermuda, an Island of multiple ethnicities, many dark-skinned persons have been the victims of colourism. This has rang especially true for dark-skinned women who have been rejected by men who pursue “light-skinned” ladies.

Many young men were told by their parents, “do not bring home a dark-skinned girl”, or “make sure you get a yella skin with pretty hair”.

Legendary actor and director Bill Duke produced a documentary, Dark Girls, in which many dark-skinned women speak about the societal and romantic rejection they have had to face from within the black race.

Many women here in Bermuda have voiced how this fixation with Llarisa Abreu essentially sums up an issue that they have had to contend with all of their lives — that too many black men do not view a woman with a dark complexion and/or with tighter texture hair as beautiful.

There is the notion that unless a woman falls into the range of light-skinned with long, pretty hair, they are essentially playing second fiddle to those who do.

What has been an eye-opener for many recently is that “light-skinned” women are now speaking out about social scars they themselves have been carrying.

What could have possibly traumatised some of them you ask? After all, they had it all — light skin and pretty hair — right?

Well, they too were affected by colourism in multiple ways. Many have expressed how some darker-skinned girls always sought to pick a fight with them, accusing them of being stuck up, not black, not black enough, or of thinking too highly of themselves

The list goes on and on. The net result is that many did not feel safe or welcomed in school or social settings that had a large number of dark girls.

Bill Duke has once again created a documentary that speaks to this issue, Light Girls.

In Bermuda, we have a growing number of multi-ethnic marriages and relationships, from which a generation of many multi-ethnic children is being born.

As a country, and more importantly within the black community, we need to address the effects of colourism.

By addressing the ugliness of colourism, we begin to affirm our own standards of true beauty. The aim will be that some black women of darker complexion will no longer feel less beautiful than their sisters of a lighter complexion just because of their skin tone.

Women will begin to embrace their natural beauty and natural hair.

Black women of a lighter complexion will no longer be made to feel that they are not an equal part of and entitled to their African heritage.

Yes, they too, are part of the oldest culture that populates this earth.

We must defeat the concept and effects of colourism and begin to respect, value, and love every texture of our natural hair and ever hue of our collective skins.