Her life, My Life, Your Life - they matter

First performed in December of 2015

A week without violence, seems so far fetched
When the resources available have been so thinly stretched
You couldn't even fathom what I have gone through
Because I have to be "strong"
yet, let these emotions brew.
You get to be the face of a "true American" and womanhood too
While I sit in the shadows, and let this shit quietly stew
What you say is believed and it's taken as fact
While I have my femininity, even my hair, policed and behavior attacked.
An issue that is very personal to me
Will remain covered up for no one to see
It is painfully obvious that research has forgotten us..
If not in America, then who can WE TRUST??
When will my pleas be seen as a cry for help?
Why must I be forgotten and placed on a shelf?
Do you know Im three times as likely to die at the hands of my abuser
but no one seems to care, cus I look like the accuser.
Black, poor, infinitely oppressed
I'm less likely to report the abuse I face
all because
I don't want to seek help in an all white space
Our LOVE for our men shouldn't be seen as a character flaw
Who in their right mind, would put a Black man, in the hands of the law?
That responsibility, I prefer not to bear
But we can't seek help if the resources weren't ever there
I'm afraid there will never be help for me
Until you begin to look at my life,
INTERSECTIONALLY.
REMEDIES for my pain, will be just chatter
Until AMERICA wakes up AND MAKES IT KNOWN, Black Women's Lives Matter.