Black: A Villanelle
Nia Smith
We are Black and we are proud.
We live in color,
but our beauty has yet to be found.
Watching Soul Train every Saturday;
blasting WBLS on Sunday mornings;
we are Black and we are proud.
Queen Nandi tattooed on our backs:
a beautiful women has come,
but our beauty has not been found.
Pharaoh Akhenaten’s charms
etched in my brothers blood,
and the power of Queen Nefertiti in my sisters.
We are Black and we are proud.
We remain Black in public
with our Afro puffs up high,
but our beauty has yet to been found.
A fisted-pick in hand,
we will remain Afro-centric.
We are Black and we are proud;
but our beauty has yet to be found.