Tite tichitambidza ivavo sando dzavo
Ivavo vatinavo
vek'kukanga kek'tanga
Kukusonera ganda
Ukavapo
Ukak a mbaira uka k ama
Vakakuridzira ukamira..
Pawasasvikira vaikutambidza
Vaikunakidza ka
Ivavo usafe
Wavasvimise misodzi

I needed a minute;
to stand in the rain,
to feel it’s droplets toss and slide down my face,
to allow me to be washed clean of sin,
to be one with nature,
earth and the heavens,
to be kissed by the rain in all the right places.
I felt it’s every kiss on my skin
Cold, no doubt its kisses were but nevertheless magical.
As I stood there with feet planted into the ground and soaked to the core,
I thought; I am a tree planted on fertile soil with roots extending deep into mother earth.
Why should I not thrive?
this right here is FREEDOM,
I live!

lonely is YOU
when you are not comfortable with yourself
and
the things about you that make people ask questions
that make you question
the very essence
that is YOU.
but
lonely can also
be you accepting YOU because you finally realize
it is ok to be you in your own skin
because
you are enough

man
woman
a mat on a floor at night
from them, I came
hips cracked open
like earth gives way for tinny little
green crops to emerge
dreams are feathers
ideas too
they come from nothing
and then they grow
while we walk over troubled waters
I grew in stride inside a god
she was woman
and the earth
her *****
mother
let me be magic
an army of a thousand marching
in full-force through winds and earth plains
shattering glass ceilings
like my ancestors did before me
let me walk in their ashes
let my feet be sanctified
I will cross every bridge they built
I will walk in purpose
I walk in thousands
it is what you believe
that you see
because they were
I AM!

“we all have them”

where I come from
men and women wear scars with pride
everyday
there is no judgment
because beauty
is hips that giggle
and ******* that sag
wrinkles on faces
are road maps of places we have been
ghosts we have seen
battles won
hills climbed
they tell stories. some
bodies tell stories that if brought to light
will annihilate men
who do questionable things to women
because they have been given the power to for centuries
so they walk the earth in masks
everyday
ghosts lost at sea
scars, they are beautiful
I too own a few
I keep mine honest and clean
so it does not decay and I with it.
there is power in knowing
you are beauty
absolutely
scars, they are moments
held on flesh
In minds
they are there to make you remember
You are beauty and complicated
absolutely.

My black has roamed the earth since the beginning of time. And even before the biblical earth was created.
Before civilization became mainstream and hungry European limbs raced for a stake in Africa.
My black existed even before the term "*****" was coined in the 1800s to name me into a corner with property, beasts, and things that crawl the earth.
Before the exploration of Sub-Saharan Africa in the 15th century, during the Age of Discovery, my black thrived and survived.
Even then, we were more than just bodies existing. It meant something. We meant something to our families and friends and communities. We were nations of tribes and cities on rich and fertile soil, with traditions and cultures where women ran and led families and armies. Where babies became land-owners at birth. And trees sang their names to the skies in celebration.
You see, my black is progressive.
My black was never stronger than it is now.
I won’t break, no matter how hard they try to subjugate me.
They will not succeed, they shall not.
My black shall conquer any injustices committed against me.
My black is God-given and me, thus my black is unapologetic.
My black is strong.
My black is multi-dimensional, complicated, and many different things beyond the color of my skin or the nature of my ***** hair.
my black and I are more than just my ethnicity or race.
My black is stronger than every standard of beauty I am forced to live up to.
My black is human and compassionate.
My black gives me the power I need, to step into my own peculiar trajectory and destiny.
I do not blame them, for not being able to understand my black, because it took me a long time, to fully comprehend, accept, and step into the power of my blackness.
Now that I do, I am unashamed and proud of who and what I am in my blackness.
They may try to enslave and keep me in darkness and ******* but like a phoenix from the ashes, my black shall rise and prevail.
My voice will be heard.
They may shoot me, spite me and even dismiss me all they want but still, they will never **** my black.
Even in despair, my blackness comforts me.
My black is too strong to be broken.
And I am Valid.

At hand, we die to the white man.
Call it like it is.
See it from my eye.
“I don’t see color”
You don’t see color!!!
What madness do you speak?
The fact that you don’t see color
Means you don’t see me!
Because I am a person of color,
(I AM A BLACK MAN!)
You’ve gotta see my color to see me.

You would rather make sure your dog eats
While my dawg got's to hustle and tussle for bone and scrap.
You would rather help stray dog
Than help a dawg gone astray.
A black life is a human life.

At hand, we die to our own.
Call it like I see it.
A lot of my brothers and sisters
See me from a dove’s eye view,
Killed by my own hands.
Brothers and sisters
Yet we **** each other like
Slave and oppressor.

The oppressor has become,
Me, who undermines my brother because
He don’t got the qualifications like the Caucasian.
Me who undermines my sister so much so
She now finds love in selling her love.
Help a n** out!!!

Land of the free,
For the skin that’s never been slaved.
Bring back the land
That was rightfully mine.
Do manners only apply when I'm wrong?
Gimme my land, freedom, rights and dreams
And ill give you your car back?
As a father I did what I had to for my kids.

Africa, your mother, cries
Day in and day out.
Her own children die
Not only at the hands of the free, but also at the hands of her children.
Sacrificed, a lot, to keep her children fed,
She’s been a mother to the world,
Its time we, her children, look after our mother and
Each other.

Why did you take them too far to find?
You took my people and left me behind.
They laughed with you, you ate together
And you sailed them away from me forever.
Strange man, has the sea washed your black away?
Your soul away? Your heart away?
Did it seep into your skin and make the melanin fade?
Is that why you’re so bitter?
Confused and scared, they ride the waves
And reach my ear; the songs of slaves.
Bitter yet soft, it tells their pain,
It shows your smile, but not your shame.
The ocean reeks of my people’s blood.
I know what you’ve done.
But you can’t hold us in your hands for long
We are the people of the sun.