My "Black Girl" is On and it's Turned Up Loud
[This is the first poem I've ever posted on this blog. I've always found that my opinions and views on black issues are well-expressed in the form of poetry, because defiance--and nearly all my thoughts in this department are defiant--is an art. For this blog, I've stuck to prose because it allows me to put more words on the page, but poetry is a fount of feelings, and my feelings here are strong.
I am tired of defending myself from the negative space that the combination of my race and gender subjects me to. I am tired of having to prove that I am a good "black girl", before others can slap me with the bad "black girl" label. I am tired of the "black girl" label being a bad thing at all. So here's my definition of black girl, whispered defiantly to those who disagree, spoken triumphantly to those who understand, and written straight from the heart.]
Today, a little birdie chirped at women in brown skin
A little word of advice:
Stop being aggressive,
Stop talking at men, and bickering.
"Turn your 'black girl' off."
I suppose that advice came from a woman with a different dictionary than mine
Because I make a concentrated effort to keep my "black girl" on,
At FULLVOLUME,
All the time.
Why would I turn off my rebellious spirit
That says "I can" in the face of those who doubt me?
Why would I power down
That part of me that sees beauty in the mirror where the world only sees ugly?
Why would I shut off
The part of myself that seeks success though failure is the stigma assigned to me?
Turn my black girl off?
You must be mistaken if you think I'd shut that brown-skinned goddess down.
It is my black girl that holds her chin up
In defiance of your stereotypes;
And her eyes open
Against the efforts to undermine;
And her heart aloft
Above your negative vibes.
Is that the "black girl" you want me to turn off?
No, you want me to turn off the stereotypical view of black women,
Of LOUD and BRASH, and BAD BEHAVED BITCH
That dirty label you've stuck to my sisters and I,
Despite the fact that women of all races can be the same.
Do they have a "black girl" to turn off, too?
Or is that only the dirt you reserve for bad attitudes
Wrapped in black skin?
Here's my advice to all you birds who chirp this:
Turn your ignorance off.
Ignorance (n): your judgment and assumptions about the person
Inside my skin...
And buy a new dictionary.
Because your definition of "black girl" is wrong.
I am tired of defending myself from the negative space that the combination of my race and gender subjects me to. I am tired of having to prove that I am a good "black girl", before others can slap me with the bad "black girl" label. I am tired of the "black girl" label being a bad thing at all. So here's my definition of black girl, whispered defiantly to those who disagree, spoken triumphantly to those who understand, and written straight from the heart.]
Today, a little birdie chirped at women in brown skin
A little word of advice:
Stop being aggressive,
Stop talking at men, and bickering.
"Turn your 'black girl' off."
I suppose that advice came from a woman with a different dictionary than mine
Because I make a concentrated effort to keep my "black girl" on,
At FULLVOLUME,
All the time.
Why would I turn off my rebellious spirit
That says "I can" in the face of those who doubt me?
Why would I power down
That part of me that sees beauty in the mirror where the world only sees ugly?
Why would I shut off
The part of myself that seeks success though failure is the stigma assigned to me?
Turn my black girl off?
You must be mistaken if you think I'd shut that brown-skinned goddess down.
It is my black girl that holds her chin up
In defiance of your stereotypes;
And her eyes open
Against the efforts to undermine;
And her heart aloft
Above your negative vibes.
Is that the "black girl" you want me to turn off?
No, you want me to turn off the stereotypical view of black women,
Of LOUD and BRASH, and BAD BEHAVED BITCH
That dirty label you've stuck to my sisters and I,
Despite the fact that women of all races can be the same.
Do they have a "black girl" to turn off, too?
Or is that only the dirt you reserve for bad attitudes
Wrapped in black skin?
Here's my advice to all you birds who chirp this:
Turn your ignorance off.
Ignorance (n): your judgment and assumptions about the person
Inside my skin...
And buy a new dictionary.
Because your definition of "black girl" is wrong.
