On embracing vulnerability

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Reasons it hasn't worked

I like men who impress me Lots of women like them I am sacrificial in what I want Forthright in what I need I like only him He is egotistical He has power by way of his intelligence or pursuit Lots of women like him He likes lots of women He does not know how to be a man and be with me. Poems for 72 Days, Poem 11 Inspired by Warsan Shire - Excuses For Why We Failed at Love
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Gender Politics: My take on B*tch & Lupe's B*tch Bad

I am not well versed in gender politics but in my limited understanding of the matter, I would define it as the social relations and discourse on how people of the same and/or opposite gender/genders [gender being the social construct of one's sex] interact with each other and how policy governs these relations. Gender politics is easily the most interesting topic I have dealt with this summer. Away from the sheltered environment of my campus community of hipsters, progressives, and activists, I am finally living the reality of the discourse which took place in my college courses, friends' dorms, cafeteria, womyn's collective, and on my Newsfeed - respectability politics, feminism, patriarchy, and misogyny. So far, so good. It has not been (that) bad. It is just that for the most part, gender politics does not matter in much the same way to the people I know/have met away from college as it did to those I met in college. To make a gross generalization, there are people w...
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Where the hell is pure

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A couple of ideas/ readings/thoughts driving this poem: 1. I often reflect on Gabrielle Union's letter to herself in the October Issue (2012) of Essence Magazine in which she writes to her younger self/ other women about loving her "deep Mahogany skin" and generally, colorism in the Black community and in Hollywood. Everytime I post A Letter from the Young, I think of it. 2. I just read this article on BBC about colorism in Africa: Africa: Where black is not really beautiful . My problem with the general debate on colorism in Africa, which I have heard many others echo, is with this notion that women and men who bleach their skins are more insecure, less conscious, have more self esteem issues, and/or are more susceptible to subscribing to the "white supremacist mentality" than the rest of us. In some circles, they are even vilified. I truly believe that this is unfair. Firstly, saying that African women/men who bleach their skin do not love being Black or...
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