Black is Black

I am proud to be on the margin of gender identity as black is black,
I am compassionate in the face of abuse & black is black,
I will rise to the occasion of living a fuller life as black is black,
I do not know how to bury my head in shame as black is black,
I will not want in the face of wild threats as black is black,
I will not kowtow to gain anyone’s approval as black is black,
I will go wherever I must with head held high as black is black,
I am a civilian, I fight to maintain the underdog’s decorum as black is black,
I am not judgemental of your foibles; do not question mine as black is black,
I was born free and do not go every where in chains as black is black,
I am a Grace Jones look alike I am told; strong, as black is black,
I will own my own in front of sad ingrained hatred as black is black,
I am prove that no one condition is an island as black is black,
Whatever you think is immaterial as black is black is black is black.

Mia Nikasimo ©2011
www.blacklooks.org

Queering myself

I am a writer who is afraid of writing;
I am an speaker who is afraid to speak to more than two people at a time;
I am an activist who is full of courage but always fearful;
I am a reader who reads and dreams at the same time;
I am an educator who is constantly learning;
I am real and fake and often cannot tell the difference at a given moment;
I love people but feel safer on my own;
I am always on the run but cannot hide;
my home is where my heart is which may or may not be where my home is;
I love to take photos but after 20 years still cannot get it right – but just occasionally very occasionly I get it right and that makes all the failures worthwhile;
I am full of confidence and drowning in self-doubt;
each day without fail I wake up with anxiety but I always manage to make it through the day;
I am visible and therefore vulnerable to shame;
I am invisable and therefore vulernable to being silenced;
I am connected but full of disconnections to people, to situations, to experiences.
I have a longing yet my belly is full. I am imperfect but yearn to be perfect.

I have passed through many places, created many spaces, loved many people, made many wrongs but in all my life I do not know what I have done. This is me and with whom I must live with on the most intimate of terms - but I know with the certainity that night follows day that I am not alone in this.

Sokari – founder and principle writer on Black Looks [June 2004], free from the tyranny of editors and other censors.

www.blacklooks.org/about/