Karyn Washington’s friend defends her legacy against the haters

Karyn Washington’s good friend Yumnah Najah has, like many people, felt the pain of seeing a friend pass too early in life.  Karyn Washington was a founder of the platform “For Brown Girls,” who took her own life at the young and tender age of 22.

Yumnah made a video to speak about what happened to Karyn and why she in the place she was in when she died.  Yumnah says that there was a great deal of negativity around Karyn’s passing, and that some people were even saying that the loss of her life shows that self-help gurus don’t deserve the ear of the public.

The video was sent to our Naturally Moi facebook fan page to, in the words of the person who sent it, “maintain the dignity of Karyn’s legacy.”

Yumnah says that part of Karyn’s beauty was that she was an “average girl,” who struggled like everyone else. But despite her struggles, she never stopped caring about others and never stopped sharing in every way that she could. Karyn’s legacy was one of encouragement and according to Yumnah, she was “able to do that because she was comfortable in her skin.”

Yumnah says that Karyn never suffered from any self-esteem issues due to colorism.  But this is in contrast to Karyn’s own words, who said that the reason she created her platform was because she suffered from self-esteem issues due to her skin complexion.  Here is what she said: “When the blog was initially created, my cousin and I were dealing with self-esteem issues relating to our complexion and we would vent to each other. Through talking it out and building each other up, we felt better but also didn’t like the fact that we were even having these feelings to begin with. We also realized that other girls may be going through the same thing and wanted to use Tumblr as a means to vent, encourage others and overcome. Since then, I have gained a greater passion for the cause and helping others.”

But despite there being a difference in perspective, it is clear that there must have been something tragically wrong in the life of the woman who went to her grave too early.  You can watch the video below.  May she rest in peace: