Iomikoe Johnson was 25 years old, married, and had four children when she discovered she had vitiligo, a condition that causes the skin to lose its color. But this was just one of the many obstacles she would have to overcome in her quest to feel accepted.
A Journey of Challenges and Triumphs:
She grew up in a small town in Ville Platte, Louisiana (USA), where she had to fight to defend her faith and was verbally abused by her peers because of her skin color.
“We were apostolic, and they believed that a woman should not wear anything that pertains to a man, like pants and shorts. So people teased me because of that,” Iomikoe told Love What Matters.
“I was bullied not only for my clothes, but also because I was skinny and dark-skinned. They believed that dark skin was not beautiful. Boys threw crickets at me and called me a ‘filthy black cockroach.’”
Fortunately, her family moved from that town to another where things were a bit better for her. She was allowed to wear whatever she wanted and got a job.
At the age of 17, she had her first child, a boy, which made her father so angry that he punched a hole in the wall, but abortion was not an option for her. Six months after that, she got married to a man who, she says, ‘threw her off balance.’
She decided to travel to visit her family and met a makeup artist who showed her how to cover up her patches. The trip gave her the confidence to leave her toxic relationship and she asked for a divorce, but not without a fight from her husband.
“He made my life a living hell. He tried to kill me again. Thank God for my daughter, who saved my life again. The divorce took its toll on me and my mental state. He told me no one would want me because of the way I looked. I had four children, who would want a woman with so many children?”
She even attempted suicide, which gave her the wake-up call to be strong for her children, and she moved in with her family, got a job, and bought a new car.
Today, the grandmother from Louisiana works as a model, a ‘ambassador’ for vitiligo, and is a social media influencer with her own makeup line and hundreds of thousands of followers.
“I once thought of vitiligo as a curse, and now it is the best thing that ever happened to me,” she said.
“I want women to know that you don’t have to be anyone else. You don’t have to look like everyone else. Why fit in when you can stand out? Love yourself and respect yourself.”
“Never give up on your dreams, accomplishments, or goals. Set the world on fire. Be free and be yourself. And know that you are perfectly created with a purpose.”
Iomikoe has overcome so many obstacles that she could have given up at any moment; she is an inspiration. Please share.
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