Round of applause for the most backhanded compliment known to man.
First of all, I am pretty.
Not pretty for a black girl— just pretty.
I am tired of trying to earn the title of beautiful,
tired of hearing, “You are pretty for a black girl,” as if it is unusual.
“Is that your hair?”
“Is it not on my head?”
“Oh, it’s so pretty.”
Or are you just surprised to see a black girl with long hair?
Don’t touch my hair without my permission.
Is it your mission to put me in a position to conform to your conditions?
Do you want me to change myself to fit your definition,
of what pretty is?
Because I won’t.
It is not my fault that I have curls, it is not my fault that I have curves.
What’s professional for you, is ghetto for me.
What’s well-dressed for you, is revealing for me.
“Oh, you would look classier if you wore this or if you wore that.”
Knowing that I’m wearing the same clothes as you,
but they sexualize my body more.
Do you know what’s funny?
The BBL girls are being praised.
No shade, but that is how I was made.
How do I explain that black girls are being used for sex and like projects they are disposed of as men move on to the next?
How do I explain that black women get killed so often by their white partners?
“She died from a natural cause.”
Was the natural cause the blow to her head or the drugs you put in her drink?
Let that sink in.
Minding my business,
out of nowhere “Why is she so loud?”
Shouldn’t we be proud that after all, we found joy in a world that was taught to hate us?
They shout black girl joy, but do you really want us to be happy?
Because if I voice my opinions, I am opinionated,
I’m discriminated against for being liberated.
You don’t acknowledge me if you are not hating me,
and despite my persistence to enjoy my existence, I still face resistance.
Because in a world that should be progressing,
we are still using degrading words to describe our black “sistas.”
Don’t “Hey sista” me when you would rather me hide and suffer
and take cover because of my skin color.
My skin color, which contrary to popular belief, is pretty.
Just pretty.
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