I Am a Black Woman

Proud and I wouldn't have it any other way. I love being a black woman and apart of a people that are so strong and resilient. That have rich history even after all of the troubles we've faced.

We are not simply what the News portrays us to be, what some music labels us, and what society believes we are. We're creative, beautiful, and intelligent individuals. While we share the same skin color, ancestors, and social issues, we're all different and unique in many ways.

We come in different shades, we age gracefully, many of us have been graced with natural curves and beautiful curly hair. We're the mothers of society and while at times we're hated, we're often imitated. There's so many wonderful things that I can say about being a black woman, but our history speaks for itself.



Here's one of my favorite poems by Dr. Maya Angelou


You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.