HopefuL Brown Face

In the crucibles of self-doubt I utter self affirmations; speaking life over my future like a prophetess. I’m less concerned with the optics and more concerned with the process because that’s the only way I’ll ever make progress.

I wear my brown skin like fine linens, never forgetting my ancestors and their beginning. I come from a fine lineage. Since they brought us on boats we’ve been magical and obviously valuable. Why else would they trade us like bars of gold?

I see beauty in our historical rise. From non English speaking slaves to citizens— witness the pain in our intelligent eyes. We always overcome.

Our African American history is the context which explains our present. Some souls are lost because no one wants to teach the details in their white washed lessons…

So I speak for those who need a roadmap. I speak for those who need to go back in time to find themselves in the present. Let this poem be a lesson. We were born into this misery and wrought inside oppression…but to free our minds…well, that happens at our very own discretion.