The Brown Knows Collection is the artistic representation of the poem, Brown Knows, as seen and heard in the documentary Black Girl in Suburbia by Melissa Lowery.
Brown Knows details the struggles of racial and cultural identity as a result of being born into a multiracial or multicultural identity by way of DNA or being raised in a community that is perceived to not fit the racial identity assigned to one at birth. Brown Knows was originally written in 2008 by La Toya A. Hampton aka Lady Rose and was shared with the world in 2011 via the trailer for Black Girl in Suburbia and again in 2014 following the documentary's official release.
The film and the poem has resonated across the country, giving voice to individuals and groups alike, using the poem's line, "Too White to be Black and too Black to be White" to describe their own and other biracial groups' struggle with identity, such as, "Too Latina to be Black and too Black to be Latina". More information about Black Girl in Suburbia, can be found at
www.blackgirlinsuburbia.com.