Makes Me Wanna Holler

 

When I liberate myself, I liberate others. If you don't speak out ain't nobody going to speak out for you. ~Fannie Lou Hamer 

I have taken to introducing myself as a recovering educator. When I say that I don't mean that I no longer desire to be in educational spaces as I am currently serving as an adjunct professor. I am recovering from the toxicity and traumas that come with the the inability to show up as my authentic self. Whether we're talking about cowardice that is rolling back DEI initiatives in the name of anti "wokeness" (I rolled my eyes typing that), respectability politics, or policies created and sustained with whiteness in mind, it is an exhaustive narrative and a detrimental experience to many of us. 

Bracing myself for the performative Black History Month celebratory posts and capitalistic ploys, I am grateful for the opportunity to show up unapologetically as myself. In my work, I seek to offer and hold space for those that I am privileged to engage with, serving as a conduit for those sacred moments to simply be. In these moments as I reflect, I am grateful for the lessons taught to me by so many wonderful elders, aunties, play cousins, neighbors, community members, and peers. The beautiful freedom that comes with just being... 

We are nearly 100 years since the inaugural Negro History Week, and we are still fighting for the privilege to be unapologetic, unabashedly Black. Not a monolith, one dimensional, one size fits all standpoint; an opportunity for a full spectrum of Blackness boldly displayed. It is my hope that we near the freedom that Donny Hathaway lovingly crooned about. 

Does my blackness offend you?

Is my hair too curly for you?
Are my hips too wide for you?

My dark brown skin glows with all the melanin I have been gifted with.
My lucious thick hair is filled with curls that bounce with every stride I take forward, away from oppression.
My hips sway perfectly with the drums beating in the air of the Mother land.

Does my athletism bother you?
Is my intelligence too much for you?
Are my people beneath you?

My athletic feats have been studied by generations of white Americans who have hoped to find an extra ligament in my leg.
My intelligence has been the reason for many inventions all over the world.

My people will rise above , always have , always will.

My people will be given justice where it's due.

My people will be heard , just like the drums from the Mother land.

~Destiny C, 2016