You’re White

By: Hawa Adam and Balkisa Abdikadir

H: Hey Black girl, it’s almost like you’re white
*pause*
What does that even mean?
K: That my voice is a little too high for my identity
K: That I carry binders around instead of a bottle of hennessy
H: That my tongue articulates without an accent
K: That I can’t use slang, “you got me bent”
H: Tell me, is white a remedy to the poison of blackness
H: Is my coffee color too black and too strong
K: or do you call me white because I spend 4.99 on a vanilla bean frappuccino
Actually girl you should try the iced caramel macchiato
H: does white to you mean educated, successful, satisfaction guaranteed
H: does it mean participating in extracurriculars
You know, doing the most, getting away with stuff
Being from a good family
I have a good family
And I’m not white
I don’t want this (small pause)
to be called white.
H: Certainly not the type of white that comes with white guilt.
The white of the past.
The white of colonialism, occupation, oppression.
The white of right now.
The white privileged
I’m not privileged
Don’t call me white
*pause*
K: Do you call me white because black means broken
Let me tell you in THIS box of crayons
black is the color most used, broken and left behind 
*pause*
But I am not a crayon that can be left behind
LET’S REWIND
It’s our people
who work the jobs you think you exceeded 
So don’t tell me we are no longer needed
*pause* 
K: Because I sign up for AP classes,
honors classes
H: I’m pursuing my high school education,
college education
Even though no one in my family has a college level education
*pause*
H: Hey black girl, it’s almost like you’re…
Black....

#bnv2016
#bnv2016poem