Shalonte Branham - a Bellarmine University junior double majoring in political science and sociology, with a minor in English - recently read an excerpt from her poem, "Blackness," on video.
The entire poem in its original form is reprinted here, with her permission.
Blackness
My blackness is the child of the sun and moon
when they made desperate love at dusk and dawn.
It can be found in grandmamma's molasses and brown sugar cookies
Living in the dark rich earth.
sprouting black women strong and thick like oak tree.
It is the ancient power
passed down from Yemoja, Oshun, Shango, Obatala.
My blackness is complexity and beauty of the galaxy.
My blackness was present at the crux of creation and continuation of humanity.
You see...
My essence is the universe.
I am life in motion
GOD in flesh
I am everything
My blackness is everything
Everything, BUT... a weapon.
I said my blackness is not a weapon!
it is not a threat!
it is not a possession!
I SAID MY BLACKNESS IS NOT A WEAPON!
And you cannot destroy it.
It can’t be killed,
no matter how many bullets you fire at it.
And it won’t be muzzled,
no matter how hard your fingers press to suppress her screams of injustice.
No matter how many times it is thrown on the ground, handcuffed, and beaten it will rise like Phoenix and explode into a Supernova!
It is persistent and mighty.
BUT your ignorance and intimidation does not create the invitation
to kill me
to silence me
to bind me
or deny me my human dignity because it was bestowed by the Most High.
My blackness-- OUR blackness has the ability to shatter these spaces
classrooms
prisons and
chains with ferocity!
And maybe when you look at me,
you become deathly aware of your own mortality and try to conquer it with your savagery...
but
It will be here when this all comes to an end and it will still be here when this world begins once again because our power
our brilliance
our excellence
our magic
OUR BLACKNESS was born from the sun and the mood between the sheets of the milky way
It is Infinite!
It is splendid!
It is divine!
And it will always stay!