Congratulations to Kayla Wright for receiving honorable mention at the Be Empowered Poetry Contest, created in partnership with See Jane Write, LLC. This project was made possible with support from Create Birmingham, the City of Birmingham, and the Alabama State Council on the Arts.
They wore crowns on their (head)
But the heat made them less bright
So God put their diamonds in the sky
So Harriet (Nose) the way to go at night
Rosa (lips) spoke through action
and hear strength to endure
Muhammad Ali was (chin) checked
But his chin held high cause his fight was secure
Henry Brown mailed himself
He layed (neck) to crate
Walker made products for (hair)
used to make maps to escape
Martin Marched head up (chest) out
Even why they were (armed) with guns
He raised up his (hands)
As if God himself was in his (palms)
They beat Emmett til
When you see him your (stomach) turns
4 little lives that lit up the sky
(Waisted) by a blinding smoke storm
(Back) to school Ruby went
Her melanin made them call her rude things
But that made her shine brighter
Now we wear rubies in their diamond rings
The strength of justice ran through
the (thighs) of the oppressed
They were beaten Til there (knees)
and the ground connect
Because of Maya
I know why the caged bird sings
Now we fly high through generations
Because of her (leg)acy
They wanted us to be free
But they still had our (ankles) in shackles
They knew to de(feet) the enemy
They couldn’t be (toed)to battle
We could do this and more
but this generation to lazy
We rather let the guns, drugs and money drive us crazy
We should want to have the tough skin they had and copy
They ARE AND forever will be the definition of a body.
