Survival

Richard Lee, Robert E Lee’s brother

The man who raped his slave

His slave, my great great great great grandmother

My blood is the blood of the oppressor but also the survivor

The survivor of a massacre of a stealing of a people to bring them to a stolen land

A trauma that changes your very DNA

I cry for what she went through yet I find strength for what she survived

A trauma that washes over you and your children, your children’s children

A strength that is carried within me, from my ancestors

Every breath, every action is for her

She survived, my family survived, so I live

Thank you to those who survived and to those who did not, those who pushed forward when they could

Thank you for the breath you have gifted me

I can breathe

So don’t ask me what I am

Don’t ask me how I got my skin to look like that

I am not an ethnic fruit for your consumption

I do not look this way for you

Take a look at the empty promises you have made

Tell me it doesn’t happen anymore

I see the dead bodies you are standing on, I see the broken backs this country is built on

I see the white wasps coming out of your mouth getting ready to lie to sting me but this time I am ready

This time I will not allow your ignorant words to squirm into my soft brown skin

I will not allow your ignorant words to squirm their way to my lungs to slowly choke me until…

I can’t breathe

I will no longer allow for my energy to even glance in your direction

I will no longer allow for your ignorance to swallow my energy until I have none

I can’t move

I see the white wasps on their way out of your mouth, on their way to me

But I am ready

I am a force to be reckoned with and no white man can stop me

I have brought the resilience of my ancestors, what do you bring