Dorothy Dandridge dipped one toe into one end of a swimming pool and panic ensued,
At the other end of the pool Simone Manuel emerged with a gold medal… magic
we are black girls
and we are magic
different types of magic
surrounded by different voices…
we are told to be soft enough to be desired
and hard enough to survive
just smart enough to understand the struggle
but dumb enough to shield fragile egos
we are told be:
skinny like the sugar cane
but wide enough to be African
pretty and exotic
but never beautiful enough to be cherished
rich enough to be resilient
but poor enough never to threaten
loud enough to be heard
silent enough not to be feared
We are told:
to know everything
but to always obey
be fragile enough to always bend
but to never ever break
not to be too fast or we are not women
not to be too strong or we are not human
we are black women
we need…
to be angry enough for our children
to be calm enough for our children
to be laughing with our children
not to be weeping for our children
we who have swum across the oceans
we who have trekked across the desert
we are saartjie and semenya
we are moremi and maya
we are all this
despite all that
we are black women
we are black women
we must be magic
