Eartha Kitt's biracial daughter shares throwback photo of mom giving her a piggyback ride

Iconic 50’s singer, the late Eartha Kitt, shared a close bond with daughter, Kitt Shapiro, despite the raised eyebrows that trailed their relationship. Shapiro recently shared a photo of the duo and revealed one of the most important lessons she learned from her mother.

Kitt, who died in 2008, had a rough start in life as a light-skinned African American growing up in the South. She struggled with acceptance all of her life, being too dark for the Whites and too white for the Blacks. Unlike most, however, Kitt let all that rejection mold her into one of the greatest love advocates the world has known.

WHY DID THE PUBLIC QUESTION THEIR RELATIONSHIP?

Shapiro, 56, shared a black-and-white photo of her famous mother giving her a piggyback ride. Their lack of resemblance is something the late Kitt, who was married to a white real estate investor, William McDonald, had to explain all her life. Even now, Shapiro still gets the question. She revealed:

“A woman came up to me at a recent event and asked me that very question. Why don’t I look like my mother? Wow. Is that just another way of saying, ‘why is your skin color so much lighter?’ or ‘how is it you have blond hair?”

WORDS OF WISDOM

But with Shapiro’s recent Instagram photo, what is most significant is the legacy her mother left her. The “Simply Eartha” founder shared:

“I've been thinking and talking a lot about #legacy lately, (Click link in my bio to read more on my blog), and how I believe we ALL leave a mark on this earth, when we depart.

My mother certainly did. And she implored me to build on the legacy she left me: HER LOVE. That, is the greatest gift she gave me. Not only the incredible love she had for me, but the love she showed for everyone and everything.

She taught me the importance of understanding and respecting that we ALL have a purpose, even when that may not be so clear in the moment.”

EARTHA'S LESSON FROM A GARDEN SLUG

Shapiro, who managed her mother’s music career while she was alive, recalled a time during her childhood when she wanted to trash a garden slug. Her mother told her:

“That slug has just as much right to be here as you do. It, too, serves a purpose on this planet and you don't have to like the way it looks or 'befriend' it, but you must have respect for its right to exist.”

Eartha Kitt never knew her father, and even in her birth certificate, his name was crossed out to spare him the shame of the world knowing he fathered a child with a black woman.