sibling well a lot of you I also have
siblings I have three younger siblings
but their own strengths and weaknesses
the sister that I’m going to be talking
about today is Amy Jolla in Missoula is
thoroughly impressed by mathematics and
science and one day as we were preparing
to go to bed she asked me a question she
asks me mediate why am i black taken
aback by her question that I knew how to
answer scientifically I just didn’t know
how to answer a 4 going on 5 year old
about the science of melanin and
pigmentation so instead I decided to
take it upon myself to ask her question
why am i black to myself in the art of
poetry so in the art of poetry which is
the only way I knew how to vividly
ponder upon my surroundings I was able
to really gain insight on myself in a
world full of or in society in which TVs
and magazines do not predominantly show
people of color
finding the right makeup that will fit
our skin tone is difficult and
ultimately my realization of race not
defining Who I am nor who I will become
so the following poem is called black is
beautiful African black girl charcoal I
never understood why it felt like a
crime as if I needed to be arrested a
sin to be me a sin a crime to you I was
born with and have no way of changing
believe me I’ve tried I’ve tried to hide
myself in the heavy tape of color from
my peers I’ve tried to describe the skin
that was the color of dirt mud off like
would actually go down down in a way and
the black pit holes on my shower it
never did I prayed to God asking why he
made me black him to change me for when
I wake up to become a white girl with
Sookie just not here in a pool of
piercing sharp eyes I used to cry
because my thighs were too big
my hips I never fit in the waist were
too big I brought lips and hips they
were all too big but it came to my
attention the life will give you the
opportunity to critically analyze the
physiology of your Anatomy
although the events that slithered and
crept up into your path you will be so
mentally free of your past you will
succeed you will achieve if you believe
that you were greater than that your
skin will embrace the nerves and network
to your heart thanking you for the
person you’ve now become it is what you
make it so you need to embrace it so I
will embrace this my black is beauty day
yes I might like a strength courage my
black is tell me something I can not do
I am humble I’d like this determination
my back is the superpower over you the
people you associate with show me your
friends and I’ll tell you who you are my
blog has sent me in an AP class and I’ll
strike you with my mind that you thought
couldn’t match you well cos attitude
that gets mistaken as belligerent but my
black is loving caring religious with
priorities my lack less a silent voice
sometimes label without even a second
glance but my black is never something
down from an obstacle until heated
something out of it my black is here’s
my mind as my greatest weapon because my
Black has seven letters and several
meanings and it is powerful beyond your
measure my name is Ola midday also known
to me as African Queen Black Beauty
charcoal and red hearted so although my
sister may not be able to understand the
depth and intensity between or
underneath my poem I know that in the
future she will be able to look up unto
me someone that’s overcome her
tribulations against her exterior when I
first wrote this poem I was incredibly
upset with God for making me black but
today today I stand humbly and proudly
in front of you immensely happy to be in
my skin immensely happy to know that I
have the power to make a difference in
other people’s lives and as an 18 year
old girl with an eagerness to
successfully make the world a better
place to live in
I know that my sisters will have the
opportunity in the zeitgeist in this
generation to come to live happier had
my parents had God not chosen me to
become black to be a black girl I would
have never been able to be embedded in a
culture rich in music dance art and most
of all food had my exterior color
actually hindered me from being
successful then I would have never been
accepted to the University of Florida
where I will be studying biomedical
engineering a major that will allow you
to jumpstart my career in improving the
quality of life for others for
generations for zeitgeist to come so the
next time my sister asks me why am i
black I will proudly tell her why would
you want to be anything else thank you [Applause]