This is to you. For you. By you. From you. Of you.
I have spent my whole life watching you. I have admired you. I have been inspired by you. I have loved and adored you. I count it all joy to have been taught at an early age to honor, love and be proud to be amongst you. My elders knew then what I only have recently come to fully understand, and that is we live in a world where many are invested in teaching us the exact opposite. They would rather we hate, destroy, and dismiss the glory that comes from our existence. They would rather we cultivate chaos and self-hatred, divide ourselves and turn against one another as enemies rather than nourish peace and self-love as an unbreakable sisterhood. Even to this day, they arm themselves with destructive media, hate speech, mass mis-representations of our journeys or worse, no representation of our experiences at all. Perhaps the most disturbing, is their readiness to silence us indefinitely by any means necessary should we dare live outside of the boundaries set for us. Be it angry fist in our own homes, betrayal and heartbreak in the most intimate of connection, or loaded gun curb-side during a traffic violation stop. These suckas stay on the ready to destroy and conquer our bodies, minds and spirits with no good intention. They steal and replicate all of our inventions and thoughts. Fear is a hell of a monster. And they do fear you, Queen.
They fear the power in the light you harness. They fear the strength of your sons and daughters as those little boys and girls grow into men and women, capable of transforming the landscape of this world. They fear the beauty of your song. They fear the curve of your lips and the sway in your hips. They fear the power of your mind and influence of your voice. They fear the conviction in your speech and the stroke of your pen. They fear your vulnerability. They fear your softness just as much as they fear your growl. Or have you not yet understood that both are superpowers? Can you not see God in your ability to love, nourish, and raise a village? Of course, they fear you, because they convinced themselves that they had you brainwashed. They truly believed you'd never again see God in your reflection.
Oh, but we do. And we will rise and sing of our beauty, our strength and our power in song at every sunrise and every sunset. That is my hope, my prayer and intention for every Black Girl and Black Woman in this world. May we never forget: Black Women are joyful. Black Women are determined. Black Women are warriors. Black Women nourish, heal, provide and protect. Black Women are the water, the soil AND the seed. We are everything. God lives in you and finds a happy home there. There is nothing outside of your reach, Queen.
This is important to me. It is important to speak directly to my sisters, reminding each of us, young and old, that it's in our very souls to shine like gold. Greatness, divinity, beauty, power, energy, love, and light are our birthrights! We are the blueprint to LIFE itself. Civilization began in our wombs. We have raised Kings AND Queens, warriors and healers. We know the secrets of this Universe. They are in our very DNA. Our collective awareness is quickly growing. There is power in knowing and change comes from doing.
I recall my early childhood. It was my father who first introduced me to my beauty. I will never forget it, nor will I ever fail to give thanks for him. My father taught my sister and I that we were beautiful at a very young age. It was a fact. A fact he echoed in everything he said and did. All of our dolls were Black beauties. I vividly remember my father calling me "Black Barbie" nickname for years. I honestly believed I was the Black Barbie in human form. I never doubted my beauty nor did I ever seek it elsewhere while living under my parent's roof. And even when self-doubt and contrary messages entered my mind upon leaving their home and becoming a young adult, it was that foundation laid by my parents that always brought me back to the awareness of my self-worth. I have always found my way back to the truths of my beauty, intelligence, power, strength and divinity. In remembering these things, I have been able to press forward in all facets of my life and dismiss anyone or any situation that is not in alignment with my Truth. The TRUTH of my magic. The kind of magic that only a Black Woman can possess and harness.
Black Woman, be magic. Be in love. Know you are loved. Know you are special and strong, unlike any other. Set apart and set high above. See the magic in your Self, see the magic in you Sister. Rise. We owe no one an explanation of our mystery. It is part of our superpower! Walk in your TRUTH, BE in your light. This is your Voodoo. This is your magic. This is your purpose: To be black, to be woman, and to be divine.
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you...
I love you.
- L Boogie
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