Shaina Lynn Simmons connects her mind, her body, and her soul as a dance instructor at Everybody Gym in Los Feliz. Yet, for years she felt disconnected to the very skin she was in. 

“I would constantly hear once I started school that I was too black. I was called a burnt biscuit," Simmons said. 

That harassment came from her own community, from other black people in New Orleans.

“It was the way that boys treated me in the city and it caused me to become depressed at a young age where I couldn’t identify it,” Shaina Lynn added.

Her pain was a result of Colorism. It's discrimination not based on race but rather the skin color. It was the focus of a recent episode of the show Blackish.

Simmons brought her painful experiences to life here in Los Angeles with a play called Bayou Blues. She says colorism still fills the streets of Los Angeles.

“This is really like the birthplace of where those images we see on TV are created. And so as an actress I felt as though certain places and certain roles that I would like to go after, but it’s constantly seen that there is a certain kind of black woman who can kind of live in that space,” she said. 

Selena Gray, a local teacher, isn't proud of it, but she knows she's benefited from her complexion all her life.

“Whites and other non-black people tended to be more comfortable so I was aware of a lot of the micro-aggressions and really the privilege that comes with light skin," said Gray. 

You can find colorism on social media everyday with #TeamLightSkin versus #TeamDarkSkin

‘We really have to educate ourselves and understand that some things are not to be joked with but rather to be worked through,” Simmons said. 

It's what she had to do. Now she's at peace with herself and her skin.

“When I look at my reflection in the mirror, I see a beautiful reflection of God and the beautiful deepest, darkest, depths of the universe," she said.

Now the question is, when will society catch up?