The Arch

We met in the cafeteria in fifth grade.
A girl told me I wasn’t Black enough
I carried that in my heart throughout my adolescence
Distancing myself from who I was
I hated myself as they hate me
 
And here you are
You’ve always been here, before me
Before my mother’s mother’s mother
You are the blood soaking into the earth
You are the strange fruit hanging
I am here now, and I can’t breathe
 
You are oppression
Becoming who I am is magic
The blood flowing through my veins
Gives me the strength to survive you
Gives me the power to fight you
We have been at war for a millennium
But you will not win
 
For love will overcome this
People created the systems in which you thrive
And people can destroy them and build anew
For we are all connected. and strength comes in numbers
 
 
In a world of love, we are all free
Liberation is in our grasp
I am free to be authentically me
And that’s a revolutionary thing.