feministcorna:

Dear Black Women,
First and foremost I’d just like to say
I haven’t sent your beauty to the rescue
To come and save the day
I won’t tell you that you’re beautiful
He’ll say that enough
If you walk the right walk
If you’ve got the right stuff
No, I’ve come to tell you that you’re so much more
‘Cause that’s the real surprise
Has anyone said that before?
So many times they’ve tried to tell you
It lies between your thighs
But that’s only because they’ve seen
The fire burning in your eyes
Your power is just too great
None can carry the mass
So they try to reduce you
To your hips and your ass
Your footsteps land too heavy
On this foreign land
They’ve been swept up by wind
Or you’ve been drowned in quick sand
They collect your body parts
Just to make a recipe
To show up on TV the next day
And then say “it was me!” “I’ve got the black woman.
I’ve stolen her pride!” You’ve been credited for no invention
No law is on your side
But it’s ok because that’s not you
What you have can’t be stolen
Your ability to innovate
Your inability to be broken
Even though you’ve been weighed down
By pain and frustration
You should know you’re at the bottom
Because you carry this nation
They say you only lie on your back
That doesn’t explain why it’s shattered
You don’t need an x-ray to tell you
That your life matters
They are just so damn scared
Because they don’t understand
They needed a slingshot but
You killed Goliath with your bare hands
You have faced every lion
In that lion’s den
They’ve tested you and they know
That you’d do it again
To save your brothers
To save your sons
To save your daughters
Who save everyone
Whom else has collected
Each and every one of their families’ tears
And saved it in their skin
Which has manifested over the years
In the curls on their heads
That they try so hard to erase
We burn ourselves out of shame
We’ve internalized disgrace
We’ve been fed our demise
We’re full of self-loathing
We indulge in misogyny
We wear apologies as clothing
They know any effort to break us
Is like sword to a flame
Rocks as hard as diamonds
Are sooner broken by their own name
Which is why I say love yourself
Stop using your tongue as a knife
Stop cutting your own cheeks
Start saving your own life
There’s a reason why your livelihood
As a “regular” princess couldn’t be captured
You cannot cast a black woman
If a damsel in distress is what you’re after
You’ve saved yourself
Time after time
You’ve never waited, never asked
To be fed the next line
If they had it their way
Your story would be done
But the blood of your enemies is your ink
And your well is overrun
You write the words of your story
In the lines at your sides
You’re a vessel of excellence
Not a toy that he rides
Not the flesh that they sell
Not the warrior he condemns
Not the game that he says he quits
Just to play you again
Not a minstrel for the media
Not the industry’s scapegoat
Not a low budget anything
I’m begging you, take note
Maybe you’ve never heard these words
Maybe you need them again
Maybe everyone else needs to know
That your power has no end
No matter what they do
All they can do is try
I see the same fire in my grandmothers
In the president’s daughter’s eyes
It’s an inextinguishable flame
Scorching and unapologetic
They touch you, they burn
Some people just don’t get it
But I want you to get it right now
Don’t wait for them to see
Which is why I wrote this open letter to all black women, all black girls
From your sister, from me.