By Aamir Mitchell
Superstar Athletes, popular musical artists, anyone famous really, eventually gets tired of being the center of attention after so long. Ever since she was 10 years old, Amber has been the focus of every room she’s ever walked in.
The attention she gets is inherently different than anything experienced by any type of minority living in America. Amber is essentially a double minority. Not only is she a black woman, but since the age of 10 Amber has lived with a skin disease known as vitiligo. This disease is a long-term skin condition where different patches appear on one’s skin and these patches lose their pigment. Regardless of whatever situation she seems to be in, Amber has always met this intense focus on her with an upbeat attitude, never letting people’s glares impact her daily activities.
Loretta Williams, Amber’s mother, was adamant about keeping Amber’s view of herself positive at all times. “I never wanted Amber to think she was different from anybody or less than anybody, I tried to make sure Amber knew she was beautiful every day.” The self-perception Amber has of herself today is in large part a result of the impact her mother had on her. Growing up Amber really only had her mother to lean on. Her father always seemed to have some excuse for not coming around, and her siblings were all full-grown adults living their own lives, unconcerned for their young sibling struggling with issues most adults couldn’t begin to fathom or deal with. Making friends was exceptionally hard for a girl like Amber struggling with a skin disease at an early age. It is no secret that children are cruel, and she definitely felt their negativity day by day. No one does a better job of making someone feel special than mothers everywhere. At the end of each day Amber had her mother to confide in. When a fellow peer would say something rude or ignorant to Amber she would go home and ask her mother what she should do. Her response was always along the same lines. “They’re just jealous.” Thanks to Amber’s mother, Amber grew up with the mindset that she was special and because she was different from everyone people instinctively would not like her. This is a fact of life that has been replayed over and over again in so many people’s lives. Difference from whatever is the norm is singled out as unacceptable in many different institutions this country has set up. Amber being the special lady she is, has felt this in just about all her walks of life. School, modeling, business settings all are institutions responsible for a presence of an exclusion felt by not only Amber, but everyone who appears different in some way.
Fashion Designer William H. Holla said, “A girl like Amber could threaten to take away attention from my pieces.” Holla explains the artistic balance he seeks between the models he chooses to wear his clothing and the clothing itself. Prejudice exists in every professional field and with Amber’s skin condition, it could prove more difficult or vastly easier for her to get work depending on the one giving the opportunity. Alex Davis, an aspiring photographer said, I’d love to be able to shoot somebody like this… with everybody trying to be a photographer you need more to stand out from everybody.”
Amber’s beauty is unquestioned. Just ask one of her 14,000 plus followers on Instagram and the same sentiment will be expressed over and over. This is a considerable following for a young lady still in her undergrad at Columbia College, located in downtown Chicago. There she studies fashion business, and her hopes for her future have no limit as well as no concrete direction currently. She is set to graduate this May but her road to this forthcoming achievement was as sketchy as the yellow brick road. As a freshman, Amber lived downtown, her first real escape from her loving mother, who had done her best to prepare her strong daughter for a tough world. Stepping off the train one morning, on her way to her morning classes, Amber was swiftly met by a white man she never met before shouting in her face. “You have leprosy! Don’t touch anyone or you’ll kill em!” This ignorant statement was shouted on a train platform full of people. Amber admits that she was embarrassed by this moment. “I felt embarrassed… I was annoyed in the moment but that was it.” Simply because of Amber’s presence she is put in a number of situations not many other people would find themselves in and in an effort to keep her spirits up she forces herself to shrug off a lot the negativity that comes her way.
One of Amber’s most fulfilling passions grew from one of the darkest periods in her life. Although Amber has proven herself to be very head strong, no one can be ready to handle an incredibly intense abusive relationship. Shortly after starting her first semester of college, Amber began to see first-hand what Chicago’s nightlife had to offer. She enjoyed getting to dress up for parties and her group adventures with new college friends. One night she ventures out, attempting to enjoy her night with her friends and is approached by a young party promoter by the name of Kevin. Things quickly escalate between the two and they find themselves in a relationship. Amber soon found out how destructive this person she invited into her life was. Months of ongoing verbal abuse left the once outgoing confident young lady shy and reserved. As she sought an escape from this person, she began to find refuge in making skin care products. Those times when she was completely alone working on body scrubs and facial cleansers provided Amber with a much-needed escape in a time in her life where she felt most trapped. This hobby she once used as an escape is now the passion that drives her. Amber hopes to first set up a website where she can sell her creations and one day open up her own shop.
Now, Amber is surrounded by friends that truly appreciate her. A friend Amber recently made, Ripley Sky Jackson said, “It took us all our four years to find each other but now we’re best friends, we talk like every day.” Amber and Sky have attended the same school for close to four years now and the two lonely girls recently found a friend in one another as they seek to begin their post college lives in Chicago.