This is a very special poem to me. I talk about being Black in my poetry, but often it isn’t as pointed as this piece – and very rarely are they pieces that are meant to be performed. This work leapt out of my on the Feb 1st this year as we walked out of the trauma of Jan. 6th and the “celebration” of the inauguration.

Regardless of what happened on those 2 days, there continued to be a few constants: my Blackness can not be hidden, there is always opposition to my Blackness, That opposition works in both subtle and overt ways. I’m glad this poem chose me and my experiences to speak through. I hope you take a moment to listen or read.

Peace and safety,

Dwayne B!

Obligatory BLACK Poem

Without fail
The uber driver asks
“Where are you from”
DC
Southeast
Family from VA
They want to know origins
A road map to bloodline
I’m Black
Black like claiming every culture because so few claim me.
Black like not knowing the answer
But you got a hunch
Ji like knowing
Jive Turkey
A country blues duty whine Black
Patois back alley hooch Black
Like my sorrows don’t know how low I been
That chariot better be swangin’
Better be sweet
Like that blackest berry
And just as obsolete
Black
Unlike snow
More like pavement
Forward motion
Black like cool
Cold
Black ice
Cause slick be a second language
And twice as rich as fossil fuel
Black
You know
Like truth
Little white lies
Let White men run in
Big white buildings
Let White men run big white buildings
Let White women defy law and find martyrdom
I’m Black as honesty
Like “nah moe”
Harsh but real Black
Like mom nicknaming you stinky cause you stink
Like let me know you home safe for real
Like forgetting
Like the absence of memory
Black hole space and time
Black holds space and time
Like the beginning of
Black
Like time
Black
A starting point
A finale
Black
Like I don’t know what fucking country
Damn
Black as being from America but never feeling safe enough to claim it
Knowing sometimes it ain’t some shit to claim
Voted for change
Voted for the same
Black
Like the only black I see in school is the board and that was replaced with something white
Black as my son
Accent on white linen of catholic school classroom
Black box checked in digital headcount
Like surviving
And succeeding
And playing their game while making his own
Black
Like Kristen in Connectivity
And Monique in Youth Services
Anita spittin’ them poems
And Kamala in Eisenhower Executive Office
And Wesley Snipes in Blade
And Wesley Snipes in Tax Court
And black as me
In this motherfuckin’ uber
Because I still can’t hail a taxi
Just trying to make it home safe
And let someone know.