Intellectual Decolonization Through Writing
waters of assimilation
assimilation flows over my soul carrying shiny attractive things in the milky waters appealing pieces of glitter - european clothing religion language capitalism currency should i go with it or fight against it? european waters feel cool to my body wrong to my soul
Kingdom of Cotton
damp heat billowing through the window pungent smell of cotton as I drive Route 29 in southern Alabama near the corner of a cotton plantation among white blossoms ready for the picking the owner erects a sign to passersby: repent for the kingdom of heaven is near almost choking as I pass I think how foolish these words sound coming from him, who built his cotton fields on dead Indians and stolen land on Black slavery and his own laziness as the sign dwindles in my rearview mirror I retort under my breath: do you not know thieves and murderers will not inherit the kingdom of god?
Biologically Savage
i was not born biologically savage until you taught me i was
The Fall of Roman Civilization
in history class you taught me about the rise and fall of Roman civilization with great trepidation you taught me why Rome fell as though your heart would shatter into a million jagged pieces while I wondered why anyone cared why Rome fell you taught me about Roman leaders conquering lands and people not their own - raping torturing, murdering - just like the Europeans with the Native Americans I don't give a fuck Why Rome fell! I only regret the bastard empire didn't fall much sooner than it did
Being Owned By White People
your grandmothers were owned by white people - my people were not they did not buy and sell us they did not make us cook for them clean toilets pick cotton they did not force us to lie down for them but now we do it for free
Brownskin Babies of Manifest Destiny
you killed my grandmother to stop future brownskin babies from being born who'd remind you that the land you live on is stolen the faces you paint on your currency are liars the people you descend from are murderers
adopting weapons of the oppressor
muscogee culture survives oppression laceration tribulation, genocide we still dance the way our ancestors danced around the sacred fire strong like the Moai statues of Easter Island adopting weapons of the oppressor our enemy no longer white muscogee battles muscogee like the Rapa Nui of Easter Island we learn to destroy ourselves
The Legacy of Conquests
they celebrate a day off from work and school - swaddled in patriotism the heralded navigator and renowned explorer sitting alone I know your exploits of countless christian sins - stealer of land and children cold slave owner building your house on the blood of natives, filling your hunger on the nectar of virgins - clumsy navigator, crucible murderer - come close to me and smell my nectar rub your hand against my nipple cast your finger below my navel, Mr. Columbus, let me whisper come closer to me; my breath like fire erases your existence when I whisper genocide