At the early age of 10, Mindy was flung into a dark abyss of lies that made the world believe it was okay to create barriers against, and inflict pain upon, dark skinned people. Mindy learned that no one was more cruel and biased against her dark skin than other dark skinned people, including some members of her family. Being treated as though she did not matter while thoughtless, hurtful statements about dark skin were made by ignorant people kept Mindy in constant fights for respect. Her opponents came from everywhere and Mindy was forced to battle colorism and racism her entire life. As she aged, Mindy learned to imitate the reactions of confident girls and women to hide the pain of the insults she endured. Even though she learned how to hurt those who hurt her, hiding the pain never lessened the agony of the experience. The experience was demoralizing and it deflated Mindy's spirit most of the time. Even though Mindy's natural talents took her into arenas where she could stand out and excel, she consistently moved herself into the background and chose not to compete. For years Mindy was cheated out of enjoying her life, her accomplishments, and completing for the things she wanted in life. of enjoying her life, her accomplishments, and competing for the things she wanted out of life.