No, no one has told me that I look like 

That actress who plays Rue.

I cannot twerk.

I don't want to know how many Black people it takes

To screw in a lightbulb. 

And finally, no

You may NOT touch my hair.

I would like to be treated like a person.

Unfortunately, I was born with two strikes against me.

Nappy hair and no Y-chromosome.

As a Black American woman, 

I am constantly either on a pedestal, 

Underneath it,

Or both at once.

It is as if I am on display.

I am on stage, in a one-man show.

A show that everyone knows every part of every scene to.

So, if I mess up, they will know.

And the audience is filled with people waiting 

For me to forget my lines.

As a Black American woman, 

Even in today's age of tolerance, 

I stand yet as something to be tolerated.

We must work twice as hard

To receive half as much.

Why is it that we are still fighting for equality?

Socially, life is no better.

She's pretty,

And I'm pretty...for a Black girl.

As a Black American woman

I am fetishized.

I am howled at by some creep

Who has a "thing for brown chicks" 

As a Black American, 

I must constantly remind my non-Black friends

Not to use the N-word.

As an American

I am still struggling 

To obtain respect.

When people from other countries look at us, 

They see Americans.

Just Americans.

Could we look at ourselves the same way?