Dorothy Dandridge dipped one toe into one end of a swimming pool and panic ensued,

At the other end of the pool Simone Manuel emerged with a gold medal… magic

we are black girls

and we are magic

different types of magic

surrounded by different voices…

we are told to be soft enough to be desired

and hard enough to survive

just smart enough to understand the struggle

but dumb enough to shield fragile egos

we are told be:

skinny like the sugar cane

but wide enough to be African

pretty and exotic

but never beautiful enough to be cherished

rich enough to be resilient

but poor enough never to threaten

loud enough to be heard

silent enough not to be feared

We are told:

to know everything

but to always obey

be fragile enough to always bend

but to never ever break

not to be too fast or we are not women

not to be too strong or we are not human

we are black women

we need…

to be angry enough for our children

to be calm enough for our children

to be laughing with our children

not to be weeping for our children

we who have swum across the oceans

we who have trekked across the desert

we are saartjie and semenya

we are moremi and maya

we are all this

despite all that

we are black women

we are black women

we must be magic

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