The Erasure by Ash Barker

Source: PeachLemonadeGraphix

I saw a man start a thread on Twitter:
what do you love about black women
I listened closely as they
waxed poetry about our bullet proof skin
the energy in the depths of our souls
to keep pushing forward
our titanium arms wrapped protectively
around the weak
the way we carry our pain with grace
behind a mask of righteous fury
shielding our black men from meteor showers
of hurt and pain

it’s beautiful
I weep
for the acknowledgment our blackness
and womanhood is finally magisterial
from the kitchen above our necks
to the stretch marks on our thighs
the dark hues of our skin
the roughness of our voice

until I remember I still scream
for black women to be revered
not just in the tragedy of our bodies
exposed for the world to see
for our deaths to live beyond a trending hashtag
a last-minute add on to a finished paper
a tagline in a hook to lift the black struggle

it’s no disrespect to the black man
I know you’re angry, tired and pissed
but when I look around I hear
women pleading for you to
scream our names
say our names
so black women aren’t lost in the smoke
as we light the world on the fire
wailing for silence no more

Author Bio: Ash Barker is a Guyanese writer who focuses on the relationship between women and their mothers, themselves/bodies, and the world using her experience in Guyana, South America and the United States. She currently lives in Boston, MA and teaches Eighth Grade English. 

Instagram: @anathalab

Twitter: @anathalab

Website: http://anathalab.com