Here. There will be

Here.
There will be no shame.
No apologizing.
No answering to names unclaimed.
No code-switching.
No dimming of light.
No shrinking down to just a color.

This is a culture.
This is about presence.
This is an ode to resilience.

This is recognition of both
Efforts to remove Black individuality,
And our ability to sustain such an exemplary survival,
Even in our triumphs uncelebrated.

Let it serve as no coincidence
That we find ourselves in the center of America.
If the Midwest be the Heartland,
Then we beat just as loud,
And as proud, as any.

This is beyond skin.
Beyond brown paper bags and one-drop rulings.
Beyond the politicizing of Black bodies or the loss thereof.

This is proof
That even when we rest in peace,
We rest not in silence.

This is an eternity’s worth of affirmations.
Is Nina Simone’s YGB in living color.
Is testament to the pieces of you
That have no words.
That need no color.

In celebration of who you are
And all of who you are.
Oh, this is about what keeps our souls intact.
This is Amplifying the Black Experience.