When I was black

This is something I wrote when I redefined what black means to me. This was inspired by a society that still hesitates to say “the black girl” because they’re not sure how it will make “the black” feel. I needed people to understand that referring to me as Black doesn’t give them power anymore because I’m proud of Black. I’m proud to be black because the same black that they made us believe is evil, dirty and humane is the same black that I now stand up for a boast about because it now knows it’s worth, it’s  determined of its future and its influence in the world. I’m that black.

When I was black?

When I was black?

Why when I was black, when I’m still black? I’m still black I’m just not your black.

See I’m still black I’m just not your black because your black put me down,

Enslaved me, oppressed me and brought me down.

Your black would shoot me down with live ammunition just because I was black;

Your black put blame on pigmentation and caused me starvation.

It practiced hate and called it segregation.

Your definition of black was dirty, filthy, inhumane and unworthy.

Your black had a price.

Your black put a price on life.

Your black was tradable.  

You treated your black as if it were like animal skin that could be peeled off and hung to dry so it could be sold. That’s what you did to your black; you hung it and sold it.

You sold it.

Left it exposed with no shelter and no dignity and claimed to own it.

Your black had no soul.

Your black had no eyes, your black had no voice, your black had no chose, it had no name, no identity no sense of life or originality.

Your black had no life.

That was your black.

Fuck it!

 I ain’t that black, I ain’t that black!

 I’m the new black.

When I was black?

Why when I was black, when I’m still black? I’m still black I’m just not your black!

 I want nothing to do with your black. That’s why I made it my black.

Now I own that black; it’s mine.

See my black is like the night, it lets the stars shine at night.

Think of as light. My black wears a smile on its face; its beauty is like the sunrise on an August day.

Every inch of my skin is adored as though it’s covering are those of a black pearl.

Think of my black as the black pearl, filled with value, admirable; beautiful and everlasting.

My black symbolizes prosperity. My black is prosperous, my black is prosperous!

See my black covers me, you can never tell where it ends, neither can you tell where it begins because my black has endless possibilities.

My black has a future, it is the future!

My black has seen the mind of a dreamer, an achiever and a believer and that’s why it perseveres.

My black is rooted in pain but continues to grow in victory.

See My Black is STRONG; it views history in the rearview mirror while driving towards hope.

My black has risen from the dust and like evaporated air will condescend to fill the clouds, only to shit all of its thoughts onto the rest of the world because my black has a voice now.

My black not only speaks it sings. You should hear it sing, hear the braveness behind the notes it belts out.

My black is a work of art; it dances and acts, and reads and writes. 

My black has stories and poems to recite. It’s heard the echoes of the sounds that our ancestors long created from the cracks of their dancing feet. It has a new history to write.

Imagine if the slave gave up?

Cling on to that thought like it’s your last breathe and hold up, your head, hold it up. And own it! Own that black it’s yours. Make it proud and let it know that you know it’s beautiful.

Every black is beautiful, every blue sky too, we all get green with envy; you bruise and see purple too. Some even say a heart is white but has turned red from all the hurt it’s been through. That would mean we were all once white, it would mean we are all red too.

Colour is a perception not a definition. Stop classifying me by the colour of my pigmentation and thinking that hurts me. What hurt's is you thinking I’m less because of it. I’m proud that I’m black and there’s no ways you can take that pride away from me. I know the truth; I know what’s real because I’m consciously black.

I’m not your black.

I’m the new black.