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By NaVosha Copeland •
Hello, mother,
Hello, friend,
Hello, sister,
How you been?
I love you so much.
You’re so strong and so kind and so sweet.
Your melanin mixes so well with your bright white teeth.
Your high cheekbones
And chocolate brown skin
Greets me, warms me, and welcomes me
To a world of knowing.
For all we do is win
In a world that has been unkind to us
Yet, we persevere.
I love you,
My dear.
Black girl!
Yes, come on in the room-
Let’s address the elephant in the room.
When you walked in,
It’s almost like time stood still
Because your beauty is fierce.
You walk as if you own this space
That you’re in.
Black girl!
Come on,
Don’t be shy.
We all know that you’re fly,
And that you’re smart.
Don’t ever pretend like you aren’t.
I hope you never dim your glow
Because someone’s jealousy has made them uncomfortable;
For there’s a way to be humble
Without feeling like you’ve crumbled.
For there’s a way to be quiet
Without feeling muffled to silence.
Don’t die.
Don’t commit suicide.
We need you on the earth
To help us.
Black girl!
You are amazing.
You were created just as you are,
Which is perfect.
Our thigh and our hips may not look like what we see on TV,
But,
That’s why we call it sci-fi,
Because it doesn’t represent our reality.
The world just wants you to hate yourself so that they can continue to profit it off of you as if you were still a slave.
But no,
We’ve been made
By a free God,
So let’s be free like Him.
NaVosha Copeland (pronounced Nuh-Vah-Shuh) is a poet who is passionate about encouraging the youth to overcome adversity, as she shares how she overcame homelessness as well as the rejection that resulted from her parent’s divorce.
