Twelve-year-old Kheris Rogers was always haunted by hurtful words and bullies at her school, but it took four words of her own to heal herself -- "Flexin' in my complexion" -- a skin-love message that's now being represented in different parts of the country and the world.
Rogers was always bullied in school; kids would always tell her mean things.
But with the help of her sister, they chose to stand up. Kharis's sister Taylor took to Twitter to post a picture of Kheris, hashtaging them with their grandmother’s mantra: "Flexin’ in her complexion."
"And yeah, it went viral. And a lot of people were commenting about how they loved her hair, her complexion," said Taylor. "Her confidence really shot up a lot. So she wanted to instil that same kind of confidence in other people."
Kheris decided she wanted to flex her mind to confront and combat the bullies using words as her weapons in a positive way, and according to Kheris, grandma's words always made her feel more comfortable about herself.
Now, the expression headlines the family's clothing line, which it started with a $100 loan from her mom and has now blossomed into a six-figure mini-empire.
Kheris has been noted as New York Fashion Week's youngest featured designer two years running, and big celebrities have also recognized and supported Kheris’s work such as Alicia Keys, Snoop Dogg, Lebron James, and Whoopi Goldberg.
Kheris now considers herself an advocate against bullying, and she loves speaking to young kids and adults about racism, colorism, and bullying.
This is a family thing and she has the support from them to continue with her anti-bullying, skin-loving message.
