Black Girl Manifesto

Dedicated to Sarah Baartman, a Khoikhoi woman uprooted from her native land and exhibited in 19th century Europe to illustrate white superiority, and black people as hypersexual and animalistic. She died of disease after five years in France. Her body parts remained on display in the Musée de L'Homme until 2002.

 

Rap gods,

And

Trap gods,

And

Twerkin machines,

Big body dreams.

Oh, is it that my thighs make it seem

I'm available to be a part of your scheme?

Hailing from your forefathers imperialistic regime,

A European team, had black people trippin

Sippin on that bleach while France was out there pimpin,

Off Sarah's "junk in the trunk"

Skimpin on the

Soul inside.

Mind laid to waste,

But hey her clit was saved in haste.

To be in a white institution,

you’d think when I raise my hand

all eyes on me because I had the solution,

But it was just the substitution,

of my voice for my body.

My maple brown skin,

let the chants begin,

Calm down little black girl.

What could possibly be the value in the words tumbling out?

I’ll sit and watch you pout,

Cause you don’t have the language to quench the drought

But hey, come here and be devout

To my religion,

Down on those knees

Let daddy see just what that mouth can do.

 

Well, I’m trying to envision a world that guarantees  

That I couldn't possibly be owned by one of these,

“white men”,

Cause it ain't right man,

That I don't feel connected to the light.

Damn.

They always told me I was darkness...

 

Is that what you think of my black female body?

Cause I'm looking to see what you think of my black female mind,

No, don't look at me from behind.

I want you to see my lips move,

And no, not over your manhood,

Over the valleys and tundras,

Over black feminism—

Oops, black womynism,

Cause feminism is a European term

It doesn't encompass the life I've learned.

 

Gotta change the discourse,

Cause this course leads to mass destruction,

I'm trying to save these girls.

But how can I dismantle,

What they beat into her,

What he forced into her.

He can't understand her.

 

Cause,

I found heaven in my curls,

Nefertiti on my lips,

Hathor on my hips,

Salvation in my curves,

And still you have the nerve

To tell me what I am worth?

Ooo I bet it hurt,

To lose your prize possession,

So sure you still had me obsessin,

But boy let me teach you a lesson,

I forgive you for all your transgressions,

But I’m progressin to different dimensions.

Crap, Im forgettin to mention

This poem ends here,

But I want to be clear:

Black girl I can see your perfection