MYKIAH CARRINGTON-ZURITA
Q: What is your experience with writing?
A: The first stories I wrote weren't even written. Rather, I would just make stuff up on the spot. I would speak images into existence for Nick, my younger brother. Being an older sibling, you're used to caring for your younger sibling, so that was part of me caring for him and part of me making sure that he wasn't feeling lonely or bored. For me, writing began not on the paper but began as something to help my little brother with. As time went on, I actually fell in love with it.
Q: Do you aspire to continue writing in the future?
A: Yes, I would actually like to write novels. Writing has become a part of my soul and it feels like my heartbeat gets translated into words. For me, writing is such a big aspect of who I am that I definitely do want to incorporate it into my career.
Hi, I’m a black girl,
And I am nothing but
Kool aid and lazy days
My intelligence -or lack thereof- further pronounced by the curls in my hair
And the black of my skin
Hi, I’m a black girl,
But thankfully not a black guy,
Because they get hit with police brutality
From all sides
Characterized as walking homicides
Skin as dark as the malice they carry
And the dirt surrounding the bodies they’re bound to bury
And unlike our brothers,
Smothered with gun powder and blind eyes
The only thing us black girls are, is sexualized
Hi, I’m a black girl,
And I’ve had my kinks and coils burned straight
in between the heat of our eurocentric media
My skin a reminder of the
Lack of authority within the minority
The only time black represented in history is in slavery or
As thugs on TV.
Hi, I’m a black girl,
Despised since the day America was colonized
Dogmatized as the inferior Jim Crow
A negro
That only knows how to obey those with ammo
Trapped in this undertow of woe
And although we struggle to breathe
We know that there is a beautiful tomorrow
Hi, I’m a black girl
My name is Mykiah
And Lolita
And Maria
Don't forget that Carrington-Zurita
And I recognize that I am minority after minority
And its about time
That we all learn to love that idea.
Thank you.
Kinky
Originally performed at Freedom X 2019