A spoken word piece…
They think I’m uneducated, relegated to the sidelines of life, desecrated and infected mind with cultish, hocus pocish, dogma of misogyny; my worth based solely on my progeny!?…
They think I’m silent, ruled by a tyrant, never speakin’ unless spoken to, hiding scars and contusions too?!
worshipping my man, unable to stand, on my own two feet and withstand, the heavy weight of his hand, against my… whaaaaat????…do they think I am!?!
They got it twisted, unable to see my arm in the air close-fisted, infused with the fragrance of self-acceptance, my raw elegance,
they do not name, nor my
mind do they tame, my fierceness unexplained,…
so they lie and try to mystify, and deceive buying time for them to achieve!!!…Even if no degrees, no impressive list of my pedigree, no old money ancestry,
do I need to justify or rectify the lies until the sun rises and falls wasting my breath on the likes of them, tongues spreading sin, just to win,…
a fight not even being fought, taught to hate, unable to appreciate, the blessing in diversity, and the individual simplicity, of those who walk, hop, and run seeking the One!
JXM
Copyright © Jameelah Xochitl Medina
Jameelah X. Medina is a Ph.D. candidate at Claremont Graduate University. She is also an educator, author, orator, and business owner residing in southern California with her husband and daughter. www.jameelahmedina.com She is also a contributor to I Speak for Myself: American Women on Being Muslim, a collection of 40 personal essays written by American Muslim women under the age of 40.
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Judging whatever you don’t understand, pushing it away in fear, but covering it over with disdain — that’s the ticket for the bigot. You show that in “raw elegance” (my favorite line in the poem). Thanks, Jameelah.
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Thank you, Nancy.
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powerful piece! thank you so much for sharing it, jameelah.
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Thanks, Michelle!
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Sister Jameelah.I wish my sisters from my community can read this.Your words can change this world God Willing.
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Thanks, Brother Yusuf!
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