I'll defy your one-noted notions of my people
while fully embracing my blackness
and confronting any doubt that we are equals.
I'll make you feel uncomfortable and offer no apologies.
When my presence makes you insecure,
I won't become a muted, shrunken version of me.
I'll meet stereotype threats with hostility,
glare at inferiority, then shine and achieve
like there were never any doubts, pressure, and anxiety.
I'll speak up when you speak out of turn.
I won't sit silently while you say things that are
tactless, stereotypical, hurtful, and wrong.
I'll challenge and educate myself,
stay armed with knowledge,
read more books, do the research, and
study to prove myself a scholar.
I'll be the woman I want to be,
unrestrained by anyone's idea of femininity,
supportive of the women around me,
aware that my sisters' wins are not threatening.
I'll respect the rights and value of all people,
uproot remnants of prejudice and intolerance, and
affirm the belief that all men and women are created equal.
Watch me.
"The question isn't who is going to let me;
it's who's going to stop me."
