I'm O.K. with chocolate, and I support good causes, too.

I was playing around in a chocolate scrubbing war with partner Mark when my own creative, NOH8-like blog post/image idea popped in to my head.

A health condition I am very passionate about is the disease Vitiligo. When you see individuals like Michael Jackson who went straight from being darker skinned to pale white in an instant, what do you think? More than likely, a whacko man who got numerous plastic surgeries, oh, and let’s not forget: a man who bleached his skin! How insanely bothered must he be to switch his skin from black to white.

Truth is: Jackson didn’t have much of a choice. Jackson had Vitiligo from a young age. Vitiligo is a skin disorder in which you are born of African descent (or the like) and overtime your skin begins to turn white, dissolving patches of your dark skin in a very unsettling and unhealthy way.

I was watching a documentary on Vitiligo and individuals in the workplace and at home that battle this disease every day, and coat their faces with tanner and make up to turn the process around as much as they possibly can. Someday (and maybe they are already) those people will be completely Caucasian-looking, even if by genetic race they are not.

I can play around with a sweetener all I want to get the point across, but Vitiligo is nothing like smearing chocolate on your body, and certainly is no treat. It is a heartbreaking, traumatic experience for many who go through it, and a troublesome situation for those in it, trying to cover up the signs.

Think of a middle-aged woman compulsively trying to hide her wrinkles and frown lines with multiple creams, rubbing every inch of her face, only to find she cannot turn back the time, only this woman could be any age, young, old, or even a man. She/he could be a news anchor, an author, a teacher, a mother/father, or even a celebrity.

This is a condition I hope you all educate yourselves on and read articles on. It is fascinating how these people live normal lives and don’t let Vitiligo stop their hearts from living freely, no matter how “not normal” these people look.