“first. anti.blackness: black is non. second. fetish: black non ness is. fascination. taboo. obsession. necessary consumption. third. exotic: the act of making black non ness acceptable. touchable. valuable. fourth. anti.blackness: black is non. — the box circle” LoveBlackObsessionBlack WomenInfatuationBlacknessFetish Book:Nejma Source: Nejma
“have you ever heard a black woman weep over her skinmurdered child. it is the splitting of atoms. it is billions of voices screaming their children’s names through her death wail. –– trayvon martin ii” LossFamilyBlack PeopleBlack Lives MatterBlacknessBlack MenTrayvon MartinBlack Boys Book:Salt Source: Salt
“black women breathe flowers, too. just because we are taught to grow them in the lining of our quiet (our grandmothers secret) does nor mean we do not swelter with wild tenderness. we soft swim. we petal. we scent limbs. love. we just have been too long a garden for sharp and deadly teeth. so we have grown ourselfves into greenhouses.” SocietySaltBlack WomenBlacknessUnlovedUnlovableBlack LoveBlack VulnerabilityExepectations Book:Salt Source: Salt
“you are not racism. you are not racism. you are not racism. you are not racism. you are not racism. your skin is not burden. there is no mark against you. your being is a holy beauty. you. are a holy beauty. — ether” ConfidenceBlacknessBeauty StandardsMelaninBlack BeautyBeauty Knowing Book:Nejma Source: Nejma
“african american women are easy. inferior. africans are dirty. jungle people. african americans are lazy. indolent. african people are too black. ugly. african americans think they are better than us. africans think they are better us. –– listen to the sound of us | we are breaking our mothers heart | the ancestors weep at how much we look like the hate that came to eat us” RootsSaltBlack WomenRepressionStereotypesBlacknessAncestorsAfricansNayyirah Waheed Book:Salt Source: Salt
“always docile. always stud. always inept. always killing. always ugly. always dumb. always drugs. always loathing. always tragic. always lurking. always animal. always respectable. politics. always high white. always fetish black. always unpowered. always hyperbolic. always fear. always on fire. always impotent. always destruction. always spectacle. always shatter. always exacted into the perfect porn star. to bring the world to orgasm. — emotional porn (the black image industry)” BlackTiredEnduranceBlack Lives MatterBlacknessBlack Pain Book:Nejma Source: Nejma
“melanin is memory. is the blue weight of the ocean. sewn into the red dusk of sky. living in the soil of your body. it is alive. leaping and sweeping you. against. into the sun. your skin was the first astronaut. the first in space. you touch. talk. are intimate with the sun. everyday. and do not perish. melanin. is the world. before this world. before the word. slave. during the word. slave. after the word. slave. it is the books. written into yourself. wild math in the pads of your feet. soft science in your hair. language down your back. invention in your mouth. melanin is why you are still alive. after. the torching. it is a second lung. the next heart. and the next heart. and the next. a never ending. regenerative. breathing thing. a ceremony of life. while you are asleep. a cosmos. in conversation. immortal. melanin is a wisdom that knew. hate would be the anti light come to devour. defile. destroy. a wisdom that did not flinch. a wisdom that is not bothered by such things. melanin is memory. future memory. past memory. your memory. the memory of life. all. in your skin. — melanin” BlackColorBlacknessSkinMelanin Book:Nejma Source: Nejma
“you want a romance with my blackness. and how it holds you. how it illuminates your skin. makes you break your breath. against itself. and how is this possible. when your world has never made you breath. not once. ever. but my blackness makes you think about yourself. in a way you have never. and you are open. a question. alive. and now hungry. my blackness is your first love. you are convinced it is. showing you what your eyes could ‘never’ see before. a ‘world’ bigger. brighter. dark. dusky and wild. unashamed of itself. rebellious. and it’s cosmic. your relationship with how the night rolls off me into your hands. you and my blackness are soul mates. you met so you could learn. more. expand. because you always knew you were not like the others. who made sure they ate one white thing every day. no. you were always uncomfortable with yourself. you wear my culture around your neck. bask in and praise its jewels. pick it up on days when you want attention. put it down when it starts to stain. (you don’t want to be disrespectful and take more than you should. you just want to be a part of something so beautiful.) my blackness came to save you. came to help you escape. the clutches of racism. of having that beast anywhere inside you. around you. next to you. your comfort. intimacy. proximity. with my blackness confirms. and affirms. your nonracism. your lack of hate. it is this heady trip. this painful awesome tryst. that brings you. flushed and moon eyed. to my door with thank yous. and i love yous. you have taught me to be a better person. you have changed my life. but this was never a relationship. i have no idea who you are. and i laugh incredulous and insulted. at the notion that my blackness could ever be your first love. that my blackness is your freedom. that my blackness is yours. — fetish” BlackAdmirationBlacknessFetishBlack FetishFetishizing Book:Nejma Source: Nejma