Glory

For every black girl 

Who was told that they were ugly 

Who held their father's shame

Because he thought you'd have looser hair

Or whose mother's sat down and

Vehemently said how much

They couldn't stand you.

Because you looked too similar to what they were told to hate about themselves. 

For the infinite number of times

You saw the it girl be the other girl

And you're the black girl 

Who never gets to be the love interest in movies

Just enough to be seen but not truly exist

In the fullness of your womanhood or your humanity

For every black girl who was told

That their nose was too wide

Their lips were too big

Their skin too dark

And their voices too loud

For every black girl

Whose intelligence 

Was often mistaken as 

Arrogance

And who's curiosity was

beaten into silent submission

And for the black girls

Who thought their bodies were only 

Meant to be taken and objectified

but never protected and cherished. 

For every black girl

That felt the burn of hot combs and lye in relaxers

Blistering scalps

Hair forcefully straightened 

Or pulled back into conformity

black girl

Princess of the stars 

With high cheek bones

Made with the same scaple that carved Egyptian Pyramids

Skin richer than the fertile soil of the Congo

With eyes sparkling brighter than diamonds birthed from the womb of Angola

And hair so divine it tries to touch the heavenly realms 

Black girl, you are beautiful 

You are the happiness that God felt

When He completed his work and said that it was good 

You are the garden of Eden

Carefully and meticulously created 

But never replicated

Or extrapolated from the Creator

You are love embodied. 

Loved like water 

Loved like air that boyantly lifts butterfly wings

Black girl

Don't believe them when they say you are nothing

How can that be when blackness is the color of the universe that holds every star and nebula beyond what the eyes can see?

Don't  believe them when they say you aren't worth 5 dollars

When your beautiful soul and body are priceless and invaluable. 

Don't believe them when they say you are unlovable

Because what Mother Earth allows to exist on her planet, is good for Her. 

Daughters of the soil. 

Empresses of the golden Sun.

Take your place and lift your head unto the hills of glory.

Black girl, rise! 

You are enough.

You are divine.

You are royalty.