attack of the white women — a poem and an experience

white women
so-called liberal
white women

attacking me
at home with
coffee mugs

or at the black-
owned coffee shop
smiling with guilt
trying to stop the
liberation of my
people;

the elevation,
the education,
of a city behind
when it comes
to equity, diversity,
inclusivity

stop me, my people’s
liberation? no way,
no how! oh, come
now!

i come with
the truth of
james baldwin
the truth-speaking
of malcolm x

when i fight back,
i connect with fannie lou,
with harriet, with sojourner,
with coretta scott, with
betty shabazz

they are all in me;
they all live within me;
they are all me

we been fightin’ back
for centuries mentally,
physically, spiritually

attack of the white women,
the alligator tear crier; the
think she know me and my
people; she whose “powers”
are not equal to my lived
experiences, my poetical
deliverances, to what i
bear witness to each and
every day i see me and my
people way short of liberation

isn’t it amazing
your gazing
your insinuating
your manipulating
your contemplating
your debating

when you lost
a long time ago,
a long time ago

my black excellence
and reverence
to all things goddess
makes me a pro!

Christopher D. Sims
August 13th, 2024
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