"You are black" — SteemCN

It may not be negatively connoted, but why is the naming of my skin color so important to You?
Why do my actions have to be connected to the color of my skin?
I am a mixture of both white and black, for me always meaning belonging and different. Why does different win? Why am I allowed to be fully black, but not white?
Whenever I say "You don't know my struggle" I am being laughet at, because You cannot see the structural racism, that rules our society.
Why am I not allowed to make certain gestures? To like certain things? Why am I the angry black woman, when I am mad and not just an outraged person?
Why not just a human? Unrelated to the color of my skin.

I think and I feel, that only You have the privilige to call Yourself just a human. Only You can act and not be reduced to the color of Your skin. Because You are pure and not polluted from any kind of connotation.

This is a poem I wrote a couple of weeks ago, after being frustrated of being reduced to the color of my skin again (!)
I just recently saw Black Panther - which is an amazing movie and in my opinion totally deserves the hype - and I came to think of how important it is, that we share our stories, from our point of views.
Being mixed raced anywhere can be a struggle and I struggled a lot with it growing up. I was neither allowed to belong here in Berlin, where I grew up, neither in Maputo, MZ where my roots are. The older I got, the more aware I got of the daily racisms, that I was confronted with. The debates, that I was not allowed to be a part of or the debates I was meant to be the specialist in, without even being asked, just because it concerned Africa.
Racism often comes in very small dosis. Racism is tricky and loves to hide.

I hope for a future, for me and for the next generations in which people do not get reduced anymore to the colors of their skin, to anything at all. A future in which people can just be people. The question is, how do I achieve this future with the limited resources that I have?
How do I change the world?

Believe that you can change the world on your own, small steps matter
Be loud, be open, talk about it, keep debates up, even if it's just by discussing it with your friends
Don't quit

I want to believe that I can change the world. I want to believe in a better tomorrow.

Did you experience racism in your life? What is your experience?
If not, what would you want the future to look like? What would you change?

Love, Naima

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dexterdumb (55) · 7 years ago (edited)

Funny how this script could be changed. In South Africa "whites" are referred to at "Bo'er's." The new government are rumored to try and seize land owned by only white farmers and redistribute it to blacks.
In Alaska, when I was a kid, my dad worked in a logging camp which was predominately native Alaskan (Inuit). Trips to town for him and the rest of my family were as in-frequent as possible. Only when re-supply was absolutely necessary. Why? Because angry natives would hurl rocks/feces etc at us simply for being white on "their" land.
As i white man, it's true i haven't encountered racism but a handful of times and know the hurt and frustration you must feel.

$0.33

1 vote

michaeljerry0 (54) · 7 years ago

this poems has got to give blacks more hope. The world should stop judging us by the color of our skin since a book its not judge by it cover. We are all agents of change!

$0.00

2 votes

gurunaima (33) · 7 years ago

Thank you very much. Nice to hear that you like it. My art is a very important form of expression to me and it's nice to see that it resonates with you :)

pijon (50) · 7 years ago

Simply excellent writing. You share your experience & feelings with us, maybe one day me or someone will share his/her feelings.
Resteemed & Upvoted.

mafi001 (43) · 7 years ago

Believe that you can change the world on your own, small steps ,i like your sentence.