im flyer on the wall

I gotta get out there
I must be seen
This fly on the wall thing aint workin
I’m like the camouflage Queen
My voice must be heard
Cuz I’ve got a lot to say
Imitation of the birdie with the word
When I should be roaring before my prey
But when they see me, they stare
They make me nervous
Some may call it intimidation
But nobody’s perfect
This girl with these thoughts
These words, these things
Can’t remain that water that goes with the flow
It’s my time to work against
Speak my piece
Release my beast
Increase some peace
But when the present calls my name
I think- maybe next time, when I’m feelin the vibe.

devynity speaks

They told me I was ugly,
Something like Pecola, undeserving of love—no kisses, no hugs
“Go scrub my floors!” they said
“Nurse my children and when they grow up they will call you ugly
too, because ugly’s what you are…”
They said the lighter, the better, but still not good enough
Made me hate myself and my sisters
Showed me thin white ladies with narrow noses
Striking elegant poses
Accentuating their emaciation, then they told me I was fat
They put Hottentot Venus on display; with thick hips, thick thighs
and supple behind
And proclaimed her a freak of nature
They called me mammy
And nanny, jigaboo, sapphire, jezebel, harlot, skeezer, slut,
chickenhead, nappyheaded and
Too proud and independent
Too loud and too relentless
The Black males’ emasculator
But still a welfare mother
With one baby on each hip, 5 walking behind
Legs spread open and wide
To keep those checks coming
They probed my insides
Mutilated my body in the name of science
When I complained, I was reprimanded and called defiant
They made me hate myself and
My Blackness
My African-ness
My natural curves
With a nose like your father
A smile like your mother
African—yes!
Before American ever was
And beautiful
Strong, yet delicate
Like the dandelions
They put Donyale on the cover of Vogue, but made her
cover her face
They’ve denied us Oscars and accolades
Told us we should hate ourselves
Told us we should have no pride
Hate our heritage, our culture, our lips, our nose
Then Imus got on the air and called us nappyheaded hos
Told us hip-hop made him do it
As if the word whore was somehow created by our music
As if we criminalized ourselves
They showed me Shirley Temple dancing with Bojangles
Showed me Marilyn Monroe, Raquel Welch, Elizabeth Taylor
as Cleopatra
Then they gave me Aunt Jemima, gave me ashy knees and
swollen feet DAX grease, straightening combs and bleaching cream
My kinky hair the crown God gave me to wear
And so I permed it
Twisted it out of shape and I pressed it to make it straight
I burned it and colored it blonde
They called me exotic
At once marveling at my beauty and making a mockery
of my humanity
And I’ve been made an exposition
They greased me up and stripped me down
Til there was nothing mo’
Still they copy my style—from my braids to my wrap to my fro
Still they sing my songs
And envy my complexion
Still they put me down
I’m so yellow, so red, so black, so brown
So beautiful—it’s true
They almost convinced me I was ugly
Til I saw you
My sister
Your radiance resonates in my reflection
With cornrows and thick lips
And the backside that switches like a pendulum
Jumping double Dutch in the school yard
Color confident
Almond shaped brown eyes
As if we enslaved ourselves
As if we segregated ourselves
As if we were brought here hating ourselves
Well this is my Black girl manifesto
For my sisters in the suburbs and the ghettos
For Nikki, Alexis, Keisha
For Jessie, and Khalilah
For Black girls who beg their mommies for white Barbies
Looking in the mirror, hoping that their faces will change
For the mikas and the iquas and the aquas and the fiyahs
You are beautiful the way God made you
The sun loves you
Can’t you feel it embrace you?

Written by Devynity (Emcee.poet.blackgirl)

people like me

ok, so i went to australia for a study abroad program in 2008, and there are a lot of different complexions of human beings down under, but no one whom i was able to identify with necessarily. i guess i should make it known that i'm african american. ok, there. so, anyway, while i was down under with the aussies and the kangaroos, i got pretty annoyed with people staring at me as if i was a massive alien with three bugged out eyes wearing mc hammer pants. maybe i'm exaggerating, but when people stare and uncaring-ly- it gets extremely annoying. other than the hands full of ignorant and annoying individuals, i met some really cool people. i met people from all over the world- Germany, India, Thailand, China, Japan, Nigeria, England, Scotland, Sweden, Finland, Canada, Austria, Norway, France, Mexico, South Africa, Ireland, Netherlands, Holand, Indonesia........they're all amazing people of different lifestyles. i learned how to say "i love you" in german and swedish, and my japanese roommate taught me some stuff. but of all the people i met, no one else was african american, so of course i stood out. although, at times i felt out of my element, i adjusted and made no big deal of not having my homegirls around or brothas hissin and kissin at me while i walked down the street in melbourne. although, i'd take a hiss or a kiss anyday before being called a "black-bitch" while walking down the street in sydney. the crazy part about that is i wasn't deeply affected by the dude that said it. i was actually expecting it, so i guess the preparation denied the chance for me to become disconcerted. and, because there weren't too many witnesses, i wasn't embarrassed. oh, and i have to tell you about this girl from london that asked to touch my hair. yeah, i let her. but after, she was so shocked that it was sooo soft...lol. she expected the brillo naps. and there was this other dummy that assumed people of color couldn't get sunburn-what an idiot. skin is skin and all skin can get burnt. other than that, i had an amazing time in australia. i toured around melbourne, sydney (saw the opera house and the harbour bridge and went to bondi beach), byron-bay, went to brisbane-queensland, saw the 12 apostles, got in a helicopter for the first time, met an australian aborigine (russell dawson), saw some koalas, kangaroos, a dingo, and some wombats, i also ate some kangaroo (yeah, i know...the lil joey- but it was good), vegemite, tim tams, meat pie, and i drank lemon-lime and bitters, i also had a snake-bite (beer with cranberry juice and champagne), unfortunately didn't get to the great barrier reef, but def next time. i became friends with some amazing aussies and i plan on going back pretty soon. although i enjoyed my time there, i was estatic once i landed back in l.a and then nyc because i started seeing people who kinda looked like me, acted like me, talked like me, walked like me, and dressed like me and it was refreshing because i was finally back HOME. it's great to visit other places and meet different people, but there's no place like home and there are no people like your own!