So you want to join the Black Girls Club?
The bootstraps we pulled ourselves up by
didn't come from Chanel.
Being brown wasn't some "cool thing" we chose to do
and while the treatment we get is special,
it's special in all the wrong ways.
Oh, I could tell you truths about the Black Girls Club.
Pssssssst - the dirty of our secret is actually yours.
When your brother rings my door at midnight
rather than midday
how about I call you over
so you can ask him to explain himself?
Oh, you might say it's the
syrup and stretch of these dark molasses,
but last I checked, it was sacks of
dry white sugar on the pedestal
of every grocery store.
You're probably hoping we'll give you a nickname
like "White Chocolate"
and take you cruisin' for brothas in the hood.
Now...I get the life of a cornflake girl can seem soggy
and less sweet than a raisin girl's,
but you have to remember:
when we were put out in the sun to dry
we were also left out to die.
The bootstraps we pulled ourselves up by
didn't come from Chanel.
Being brown wasn't some "cool thing" we chose to do
and while the treatment we get is special,
it's special in all the wrong ways.
Oh, I could tell you truths about the Black Girls Club.
Pssssssst - the dirty of our secret is actually yours.
When your brother rings my door at midnight
rather than midday
how about I call you over
so you can ask him to explain himself?
Oh, you might say it's the
syrup and stretch of these dark molasses,
but last I checked, it was sacks of
dry white sugar on the pedestal
of every grocery store.
*Applause*
ReplyDeleteThis applies to wanna bes of all genders who think being black is all about what they see in rap videos: being cool, speaking slang, dancing. The black experience does not consist of things they can learn to copy in 5 minutes.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. I'm debating whether to continually go dark with this poem, or go snark.
ReplyDeleteGo both. You can slant it either way and it still works.
ReplyDeleteI think you should go Dark & Snark. I've always shaken my head @ ppl who think that Blackness is something that can be worn like a damn coat. I can't stand the cherry picking & out of context bullshit that never seems to end. Then when we check folks on their privilege, we become the Angry Negroes.
ReplyDeleteSnark and dark?
ReplyDeleteOh, damn....
I'm cosigning on the dark then snark.
ReplyDeleteAnd um are there any updates to this poem? My roommate and I would like to do a little performance piece with this.
How'd you like the update?
DeleteAnd um are there any updates to this poem? My roommate and I would like to do a little performance piece with this.
ReplyDelete*blushes*