My Blackness Is Intangible
"My blackness will only be tangible/Through the admittance of love"
MY BLACKNESS IS INTANGIBLE
There’s no tanning bed that can melanate you to my complexion
No shade from Kylie’s palette to match my tone
Don’t you know that I originate from the sun?
My hair a conductor
My crown a natural throne
MY BLACKNESS IS INTANGIBLE
No doctor can give you a price for my black soul
No matter how you experiment on my body
Only one holds the key to unlocking the gene code
The code is tightly knit
Close in bondage
Like kinship
MY BLACKNESS IS INTANGIBLE
Because it is not something you can get
It is only given
It is many things
It is something driven
Like the mindset of a warrior
My black conquers division
MY BLACKNESS IS INTANGIBLE
You cannot hold it to keep
It comes with pain
But that is only because
In order to grow you need to know what it means to weep
Hoping for better days
A wise man by the name of Cornel West explained
That black people are soulful
Gentle
Kind
And enabling
Even in the midst of a mass genocide
Humanity will call the unlocking of this
Black code The Great Awakening
Sleep in a somber slumber
Thousands of years have passed
Since humanity united as one
My blackness will only be tangible
Through the admittance of love
Love for oneself
My blackness rises above
And stands g up for humanity
Before creating tears from spilled blood
Love has no measurable value
It is all free
Love is the key
Love is humanity
For black
And for me
(Editor's note: This is one of the winners of the Dr. Cornel West Composition Contest, sponsored by the University's Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.)
