The Language of Color

Reclaiming Joy & Power Through Decolonizing Clothing with Mariela Perez-Simons

Color was stolen from you.

I’m serious!

Colonization didn’t only take land, language, and freedom from us. It also erased color—from our buildings, our textiles, our adornments, our spirituality, and our sacred spaces.

It’s devastating when you fully understand the impact colonization has had on our larger culture—and even on our psyches and nervous systems.

That’s why I’m on a mission to revolutionize color.

Let me share with you part of my story:

When I arrived in the United States as a political refugee from Cuba on April 4, 1995, I was 21 years old. I carried only the clothes I was wearing and a small red backpack filled with a handful of photos, documents, and old love letters.

Even though it was spring in North Carolina, that entire month was gray to my eyes—my young eyes that had been accustomed to the brightness of the tropics for 21 years.

But it wasn’t just the light.

Everything felt muted: the buildings, the energy, even the clothing.

I was somewhat depressed and disoriented, as you can imagine, and my soul hungered for more… for something I couldn’t fully name at the time.

And then I found the thrift stores!

There, among the outdated and the discarded, I found my color again.

Can you imagine the joy of finding vintage dresses in tropical pinks and mango golds, or precious bohemian blouses with embroidered flowers?

Before vintage was a trend, it was my medicine.

Those pieces reminded me of who I was while living in exile:

A Caribbean daughter of the sun.

A woman of color who needed color to live.

But guess what?

Color wasn’t considered “professional” back then.

I’m sad to admit that I kept many of those vintage pieces tucked in my closet for years. I treasured them, but I didn’t wear them often—because it takes a lot of courage to stand out like that.

Now, celebrating my 30th anniversary in this country, I look back at that journey with new understanding. My search for color wasn’t just aesthetic; it was spiritual survival.

The brain associates color with vitality and aliveness.

It’s been such a revelation to understand how colonization stole color from us—and how reclaiming color is a revolutionary act.

Let’s explore that a bit deeper.

The Colonial Erasure of Color

When European colonizers spread across the globe, they didn’t just impose political systems—they imposed aesthetic hierarchies.

Yes, they did!

The Western colonial project systematically devalued vibrant color as “primitive,” “excessive,” and “uncivilized.” And guess what? Our nervous systems believed it.

This fear and rejection of color even has a name: chromophobia.

As cultural theorist David Batchelor explains in the amazing book of the same name, chromophobia manifests as “the loathing or fear of color” and “the primary marker of the inferior.”