This is body-positive blogger and YouTuber CeCe Olisa.
Last week, in response to the killing of Alton Sterling, Olisa posted a message with the #blacklivesmatter tag to her normally fashion- and fitness-centric Facebook page.
And she was shocked to see a large disconnect in her followers' discussion of “body positivity” and race.
Olisa told BuzzFeed that in a series of comments that have since been deleted, multiple followers expressed offense at her use of the tag, demanding apologies and asserting that "all lives matter."
Surprised by her followers' lack of understanding, Olisa decided to make a video and corresponding blog post explaining how discrimination against some of us affects all of us.
!["If you have ever felt discriminated [against] because of your size; forced to shop in basements, found it hard to get a job… or a date even," Olisa wrote on her blog, "then you know a tiny fraction of what those of us with brown skin are dealing with."
"Of course, being irritated about lack of clothing options and dates is a walk in the park compared to fearing for you life."](https://img.youtube.com/vi/rjYN3Yg3CEQ/mqdefault.jpg)
View this video on YouTube
"If you have ever felt discriminated [against] because of your size; forced to shop in basements, found it hard to get a job… or a date even," Olisa wrote on her blog, "then you know a tiny fraction of what those of us with brown skin are dealing with."
"Of course, being irritated about lack of clothing options and dates is a walk in the park compared to fearing for you life."
"Body positivity is more than about size," Olisa says in the video.
She lays out the intersecting marginalized parts of her identity...
... and throughout the video, discusses how those who understand discrimination against people due to their size...
... should be easily able to empathize with those facing it due to the color of their skin.
Truly, it goes both ways...
... and the stakes are high.
And as for "all lives matter"?
Basically, and it doesn't end with race, size, or ability: treat others the way you want to be treated. One more time for the people in the back, CeCe.
