Vanilla, Cinnamon and Dark Chocolate: The Color of Love

This fast-paced, contemporary, novella, set in Los Angeles reveals the trauma associated with skin colorism by unmasking the lives of three women. Vanilla is a Black woman of Puerto Rican ancestry. She is 'tall and tan and young and lovely'. Her daddy is rich and her mama is good lookin as the song says. Her brother, Deputy District Attorney, Howard Gray has a massive sandy-colored Afro, olive skin, and green eyes. He is vain and his fate is signaled by Proverbs 16:18 "Pride goeth before destruction." Cinnamon is a Black woman of American-Indian ancestry. She is 'gobsmacked' by Howard and engages in magical thinking about him. Dark Chocolate is a Black woman of Nigerian ancestry. The court system may take her toddler away from her if she continues the life she's living. Class differences are a backdrop for this tale which has religious overtones that are expressed through modern songs, modern works of art, and ancient biblical passages.