mahogany be a black girl. she writes in rainbow

My Letter to a Young Poet

Dear G,

Thanks so much for reading my work and sharing your experiences with it. I am curious to know what your lesson plan was and more importantly — how you look at the world since.

My inspiration comes from the world that surrounds me, whether on the stoop in front of my apartment or on the television screen. I also write for my daughter. As a young black woman, I was reminded that my voice was useless and not valid. I was reminded that stereotypes of me speak louder than I ever could. And because of that I find more reasons to write, because the fight isn’t over, ya know? It happens every day — the fight to be heard and understood. The fight to be acknowledged and respected — rather than looked down upon because its so much easier to discredit someone because they don’t look like the ruling class. When I say ruling class — I mean, green as in money. And privilege as in non-black. The Trayvon Martin case causes me pause. I know it inspires me to continue writing…Even when I am too tired and worn down from fighting my daily fight. I write to breathe. I write to breathe  again and again. I find new ways of writing and feel the fill of my lungs. It is less boring than most things. I use my twitter to write. I use my pain to write. I write away my pain. All of these things move me. It moves me to know you found something worth teaching and learning and re-teaching to your peers. I hope you continue to write. Even when it feels boring. Or worthless. You will be amazed to look back ten years from now and be able to trace the landscape of your beautiful beautiful mind!

Thank you for making my day a brilliant one.

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