I was born in Senegal in 1996. My mom moved to New York when I was two years old, so I was raised by my aunt back home.
I learned to find things to love about myself and to celebrate them.
There were times I wouldn't leave my room for weeks and sometimes missed school because I hated how people would look at me. But my older sister helped me find the positive: She used to show me pictures of Alek Wek to say, 'See! You can be a model if you want!'
Learn yourself and love yourself.
You are OK however you are, and you are very beautiful.
I grew up in Senegal, where more than 50 percent of the women bleach their skin, and skin bleaching is a huge deal. I grew up seeing my cousins and my aunts using it.
My skin is dark and glows. It almost seems blue, and it's supersoft.
I was teased a lot, growing up, because of my skin tone.
The message I have for my sisters is that how you look doesn't matter as long as you feel beautiful inside.
Personally, it was always very difficult to find complexion products that match my shade.
People have made comments, calling me names like 'midnight' or 'mother of stars.' At first I confronted the bullies, but eventually I learned to tune out the negativity and just love myself more.
I wanted to bleach my skin so bad, but my sister always discouraged me. She'd say, 'This is a bad thing. Don't try it.'
Kids used to tease me and call me 'fille des etoiles,' which translates to 'daughter of the stars.'
My very first account was @BlackBarbie, which is what my friends called me growing up. Then I thought, 'You can either call yourself that, or you can find something that will matter to dark-skinned girls.' So I came up with @melaniin.goddess.
I wanted to show girls it's not bad to be dark, that different is beautiful.
I want to be an actress and learn astronomy!
I let my life, and success, speak for itself.
I want to inspire young girls and let them know that we are all goddesses inside and out.
Where I grew up, we had light-skinned models but not dark. Every time I would talk about being a model with my friends, they would start laughing out loud.
I was so ashamed of it that I would spend hours in the shower crying and trying to wash my skin off.
