I recently saw a video of Black lives matter protesters dancing. What they did inspired me to write this poem.
Black person smile.
you should contort your face.
scaffold the sides of your mouth into a smile, so that the world does not get scared.
Show your pearly whites.
Use your teeth to cage all the racism and smile.
Suppress the power of your melanin when you are in this world and smile.
See now you have the perfect mask to live in this world.
You do not have the right privilege.
I mean white privilege to survive in this world.
Remember melanin is too big to be caged in.
Ancestry is too big to be held by bars.
So unscaffold your mouth.
Allow your blackness to be your drug.
Let melanin arch your mouth into a canyon.
Fill your mouth with the joys of blackness.
So that it overflows when you speak.
Black skin always smiles big.
It’s in our clothes.
It’s in our food.
It’s in our music.
It’s in our dance.
It’s in our words.
It’s in our protests.
even when you have your mask on.
Your black skin is always smiling.
Never be afraid to smile.
Black smiles are beautiful.