black woman – Dr. Kiara Shanay Lee

Microaggression

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Microaggression

That thing that is a thing

That really isn’t a thing

It’s real in a scholarly article or

In a library database

But the minute the word leaves my lips

To describe how I live

It’s fake

Unreasonable doubt

Microaggression

Too vulgar for your after-school special

But not enough for a therapy session

Because there’s no cure for oppression

There’s no medicine for this disease

Even though I have symptoms everyday

Symptoms that you may not ever even see

That no vaccination or inoculation could

Ever prevent

This is a diagnosis; this is a dose of reality

My pain, my wound, my infliction, my condition – it’s there

Trust me

Blind faith

Microaggression

Is when you don’t like someone for no reason —

Wait, there is a reason, but it remains to be unsaid

Even though it’s in your heart and

All up in your head

But you can hear it if

You’re really quiet and you really listen

To your bias and to your intuition

Microaggression by definition is

Subtle discrimination

Every day, threaded

The fabric of this nation

Sight seen and unseen

Microagression

Is If I looked like you, I would have gotten the job that you do and

I really like your people, and

I just love their hair too

Can I touch it? I mean, is it okay with you? or

You’re my favorite friend of color, my brother

Who knows your truth better than me?

Microaggression

I find you in traveling lectures and

In fancy books by fancy smancy professors

But I see you more in the hallways

And in the mall

And at work and

At the bar and

On Facebook and

On the news

And in my neighborhood

And in my blues

Too close to home

Microaggression

But you go by another name:

The girl that sits next to me in class who

Covers her tests with her hands thinking

Her answers are the only reason I

Pass

Or the mother that grabs her child’s hand real tight

When I walk by at night

And in the daytime and

The co-worker who pretends to be my friend but

Soon as I turn my back, she’s criticizing me and the position

I don’t deserve to be in

Who’s who?

You’re with me everyday

Some of you I don’t even know

Yet and still, I know you better than I

Ever knew myself

A Prayer for My Mother

Born to lose and built to win

All odds stacked against her is how it begins

God bless my mother, the places she’s been

The little girl who hadn’t a selfish thought

She stood her ground, the fights she fought

God bless the child who was the adult

She gave birth to three and last was me

She always provided us with way more than we needed

God bless this woman for the roots she sowed and she seeded

Enough love to feed every hungry child on this earth,

Enough love to soothe the entire world when it pains and when it hurts

God bless the healer and her invaluable worth

She glows with independence, it’s clear and it’s known

She walks with style and class, but she’s never afraid to walk alone

God bless the lady who has always had her own

Odds stacked against her like no other

Yet no one stronger, yet no one tougher

I pray she knows how much I love her

God bless the queen I call my mother

For the Ladies: “The Plan”

The Plan

by Danaya

How can I trust the plan when the plan has caused so much pain?

Broken hearts and souls torn apart all in the plans name?

But everything happens for a reason at least that’s what I’m told

So I try to accept that and hold on to hope even when it’s dark and cold

It is not easy and I’m often filled with doubt

I just don’t understand why my plans never work out

Like a few years back I knew I was in love

Yea we had our problems but struggle…no one is above

Our relationship wasn’t healthy Abusive if I’m being honest

But my little one could have been enough to make him keep his promise

I know it sounds irrational and maybe it wouldn’t have worked

But maybe my baby would have given me the strength to walk away before it got worse

That piece of me could have been enough to heal my tattered soul

The agony of that loss is buried in the story never told

Maybe the plan was for the relationship to end

But did it have to include taking a life before it could begin?

How can I trust the plan when the plan has caused so much pain?

Broken hearts and souls torn apart all in the plans name?

But everything happens for a reason At least that’s what I’m told

So I try to accept that and hold on to hope even when it’s dark and cold

It is not easy and I’m often filled with doubt

I just don’t understand why my plans never work out

A few years pass and I trust a man for the first time in my life

He shares plans of making me his wife

From the first conversation I knew we would last

Building a future by discussing the past

I never let anyone in so he invited me out

I stepped out of my shell I let go of my doubts

He unpacked my baggage and checked my insecurities

He mended the breaks of my heart on my sleeve

He handled me with care until the moment he stopped

I guess his forever meant until he decided to walk off

So, how can I trust the plan when the plan has caused so much pain?

Broken hearts and souls torn apart all in the plans name?

But everything happens for a reason At least that’s what I’m told

So I try to accept that and hold on to hope even when it’s dark and cold

It is not easy and I’m often filled with doubt

I just don’t understand why my plans never work out

I had plans of genuine love and affection

Of inseparable bonds and intimate connections

Of raising my child to love better than I

Of experiencing a forever that transcends time

To trust the plan is a difficult task

To say it all was necessary…all of my painful past?

My broken heart and souls torn apart all in the plans name?

How can I trust the plan when the plan has caused so much pain?

Danaya’s “The Plan” is part one of a three part series. For more, follow Danaya’s Blog here.

For the Ladies: “Being a Woman”

For Women’s History Month, its only right to feature some beautiful words — about the beauty of womanhood.

For the ladies.

Being a Woman.

by Fantasia Alston

This doesn’t mean that our hair has to be long

Or that we’re overly sensitive

When something goes wrong

It also doesn’t mean we need to have curves

Or a face full of make-up

Just so men can observe

We’re courageous and strong with warm hearts

Beautiful in every single way

Our body is art

We are essential contributors

Who can take on any role

Influential muses

Knowing how to take control

Caregivers and breadwinners

Who’ll always pull through

With a herstory of progressive accomplishments

There’s nothing we can’t do

Follow Fantasia’s blog on Tumblr here.