In honor of Happy Black Girl Day, I share my space here at Dirty Pretty Thangs with fellow Black Woman Writer, Porsha “Lyrik” Coleman. Lyrik has been a long-time supporter of my blog’s many incarnations and I am honored to provide a loving and safe space for her to share here. Thank you so much for your submission, Sister.
I am a Woman: A Manifesta
I am a woman, and I will stop apologizing for that. I will stop apologizing for being fat, for still feeling beautiful.I will stop apologizing for torturing myself with societies standards, magazine covers and people who disagree that i am beautiful beyond measure.
I am a woman and I will not be sorry, not today or tomorrow and hopefully never again. I will not be sorry that I like food, and laughter, that i like to fuck and be held, that i cry, and need to be heard.
I am a woman and I will not let my self worth be defined by ANYBODY else but me including marie claire magazine or psychology today. I will not display my body in exchange for a bill of goods bought and sold by men, women, governments and media.
I am black, and i will not barter my POWER because of it, I will not shrink, I will not die, I will not fold into stereotypes and statistics. I will not apologize for my hair, or nose, my statue or natural glow. I will not be sorry that I don’t wear makeup or heels. I will not be sorry for my arms, my hands, my feet, my legs, my lips, my breasts, my voice, my mind, my spirit, my soul, my flesh, my wants.
I will be tall without apology, I will not sit in the back of the room, or bus, or school, or office. I will love myself with passion and purpose. I will be a proverbs woman. I will no longer accept what is unworthy of me.
I am a woman, i can carry babies and civilizations. I can write anthologies and histories, I can be griot and worshiper, I can hold church and life. I can keep homes and secrets. I can read books and minds.
I am a woman i will defy all logic but God’s, I will remember I am made in his image, I will live in my highest consciousness. I will be everything I am meant to be.
I am a woman and I will stop apologizing for me…..
Lyrik is a Washington, DC based writer by passion and profession, whose work seeks to explore the intersections of gender, race, class, culture and spirituality. A blogosphere nomad Lyrik opts to spend more time waxing poetic on other people’s turf and resigning herself to writing anthology submissions, poetry, and personal testimony opposed to maintaining her own permanent space on the internet. When not writing she seeks to inspire, influence, and build community through film making, workshops, and panel discussions.
