We Are Not Your Ugly-Beautiful Toys

Photo by Clarke Sanders on Unsplash

First they called us n*ggers
Now they call us regal queens
Always 'other'
Always 'other'

One day we are the garbage
The next, we are the Goddess
Always 'other'
Always 'other'

Never just woman
Never just human
Always, always
something
Other

Something tokenized
fetishized
modified
and then commodified

For your consumption
For You

You
The one with the white gaze
The one with the colonizers' appetite
The one who needs to oppress and control
just to feel whole
The one who cannot find shared humanity
outside of whiteness

We do not exist for this purpose
We are not your ugly-beautiful toys

No
You cannot
touch our beautiful black hair

No
You cannot
talk about our beautiful black skin

No
You cannot
project your hate or your love
onto our beautiful black souls

We are not your blank slates
We are not your toys

We are
Women
Humans
And yes, even
regal goddess queens

But for our gaze
Not yours

Always ours
Never yours