Where I'm From

Originally Written August 8, 2007

for english class...


I am from a never ending legacy
built by black women
before me.
I am from the fight for racial equality.
From the struggle to stop male
superiority.

I am from every stereotype.
Categorized by being loud, ghetto,
and hype.
I am a black woman.

I am from each single mother,
and every sista’ married to a “good”
brotha’.
I am soft soothing sounds of R&B and soul
Rocking and shaking hips on beat.
Not too fast or too slow.

I am from the angelic beauties
and intellectuals.
Often subjected to ridicule
by being labeled as hoes.
I am a black woman.

I am from the slave woman
who was displaced.
Raped from her family, home,
name, and history erased.
I am from welts and bruises
from every whipping and beating.
Freedom for those who made it and
those who tried without succeeding.

I am from hair grease and hotcombs.
From every story heard
and every story untold.
I am from a never ending legacy.
I am a black woman.

©Lyrically Poetic