Not Your Negro

i am not your negro

so don’t call me jim crow,

or a coon or a darky.

i am not a minstrel show.

i am not primitive

or savage by nature.

i will not feed you to my children

these are the words of colonizers.

i am not an angry woman

this is just my face.

i am neither aggressive or dominating

don’t be fooled from far away.

i’ve never done drugs

i don’t sell crack

i can’t fight to save my life

in case you thought i could.

i’m a terrible runner

and i don’t play any sports.

there are no genetic factors

that make me a natural athlete.

this is my normal voice

i don’t talk white.

my intellectual capacity

need not be questioned.

i am not pretty for a black girl

so i won’t conform to your beauty standards.

they are impossible to attain

and believe me, i’ve tried.

i am holy.

gold runs through me as vigor

power flows through my veins

my lips bring lightning storms

my words are the thunder.

exalt me.

for i have been to the mountaintop

to see the face of God

and i have come back unscathed

hardened by the fires of heaven.

i have endured too much

to live as a dog.

the sky will crack

and the earth will eat itself

before you drag me to the depths

of a hell i will never belong to. 

c.s.