"My Curls"
My curls are everything you wish you knew about me
Even though it won’t reveal my inner mystery
My hair means young, it means wild, it means free.
My black Latina nature sometimes precedes my personality
People try to tell me who I am and they whisper, “I bet she…”
See I got the look- that look I had to perfect in response so they can see
The standard look of “NO!! My curls are everything you WISH you knew about me”.
They say, “I know about you kind of girls…” but the only one who can enlighten me about me, is ME.
To them I’m nothing more than another wannabe Jenny from the Block,
Shakira if she were an Amazon on the catwalk
Beyonce before Jay Z gave her the “ROC”
A young Celia Cruz, a woman who fought to have her own voice heard
Despite the disencouraging words
Maya Angelou if she had a alittle salsa to her phenomenal youth.
All these women fought through dance and song entertaining you but really educating you
That the superficial does not belong to just one graciously profound group of beings.
My hair means Goddess, it means Loyal, it means Amazing.
My curls exude confidence, intelligence, and beauty;
They keep secrets, create dreams, and remind me how persistent I need to be
My hair defines me. But not as you define it, it is in the way I do.
I am everything I believe my hair means
And boo...
My curls are everything you WISH you knew about me!
History portrays Afro-Latinas as fierce, filled with fire, labeled as dangerous.
Maybe we’re that way because society won’t let us BE
Being compared constantly, fighting for an identity
Having to Jump on the defense just because there's more me-la-nin,
Or the ones who dissolve in the sea of privilege.
As if the validity in my curl is Somehow any dif-ferr-rent
As if it will tell you I'm some kind of belligerent
As if it will tell you I'm not reliant or innocent
As if it will tell you I'm anything less than magnificent
Can I just be me? This imperfect human that is capable of flawless perfection.
I was born to beee. Would you believe me if I said
My hair means love, it means wild, it means free?
I’m tired of societal shackles,
What they expect my professional hair should be,
How the myth that a slick back magically gets you the clean respect of a thousand men,
Versus being able to see a beautiful visual of a History lesson,
In the form of a royal Mane. TUH
The adolescent,
The ignorant, they're all the same
And the weak could never handle the curves of what seems like a dangerous road theyve heard before.
I love Ourrrr nappy headed hair-
From 3B to the amazing 4C alone intimidates no matter the where.
Gooood…. Leeet iiit!!!!
Someone asks me "You straight?"
Nah I'm not (laugh) I mean not today HAHA my hair is in its natural state, I took the time to get to know me.
ISSA crown you see, The insight is rich so let me recap the story
Nature mixed and mixed until it made a race of people that could bear the pain without a hitch.
We braid to tell the secrets of our pain
We greased scalps to let the resistance slip in vain
The traces of our origin shows we were made with passion and spiritually ordained
The swirls mean there was struggle but alas the enlightenment.
I Love My curls when they're untamed and frizzy
It shows our ambition- our resiliency
Even when they are unkempt, and unruly
And yes I'll braid them sometimes for protection but the lesson is in my history.
My curls are everything YOU WISH you knew about me
My hair means love, it means wild, it means free!!
--¶oeticSOULdier
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