BLACK GIRL, mad girl, oversexualized girl, overhated girl, disobedient girl, loud girl, ghetto girl. I’m a black girl, the world said I’m too loud, so they put this tape labeled “oppression“ over my mouth. I’m told that I’m not depressed, just angry and sad. From a young age I’m sexualized because of my color. I’m not the porcelain skinned item that can fit in a man’s pocket. I am the brown/black skinned fetish that is tolerated by everyone and anyone.

I hate reading books that describe the main character as a girl with skin white as snow and long wavy hair and red ruby lips with the skinny body. I hate that there is no description for someone like me. If there was one, I imagine it would say something like, “she had kinky 4c hair with beautiful glossed lips and the sun hit her just the right way.” Since I’m not mixed, people keep thinking I need to be fixed, but I don’t. The world says, “bleach your skin or use this new lemon juice lightening recipe,” but that beautiful black girl won’t listen because she has a vision.

“The Black woman is the most unprotected, unloved woman on earth… She is the only flower on earth… that grows unwatered.” ~ Kola Boof. I am the flower that is staying alive by the strength and unity that I have within myself. The only water that I ever come across is tears of ancestors and generations ahead. Their tears water me and give me the power to love myself when no one else can. The sky cries its heart out and then gives off sunlight, and when the moon comes out to play, the sky is dark and beautiful and full of stars. Someday I aspire to be like the sky at night and maybe only then will people adore me and worship the beauty that I carry.

I’m the girl who can do anything, but my talent is not recognized because beauty is what matters. I’m the intellectual everyone overlooks. I am a visionary who will rule the world and break the rules. I’m afraid to say no to a man when he asks for my number and I get scared when I see they’ve taken the same path as me so I walk past my house just to see if they plan on walking somewhere else.

Black girl, beautiful girl, happy girl, glow girl, carefree girl, joyful girl. I am a black girl who is loved even if it’s just by me. I’m a happy black girl because my spirit refuses to be broken. I’m the carefree black girl who has stars in her eyes. I am the glowing black girl because when the golden hour hits I’m in my prime. I am the black girl who struggles and the black girl who has a culture that is wanted by people who refuse to take the problems that come with the benefits. I’m a black girl with a heart full of love and peace, not the anger and hate that hangs over my head constantly. Soy la bruja negra que no quema. We are black girls in a white world who deserve better than just the stars and unwatered flowers.