Layla Riley-Hill Poet Free verse

Black girls don't get eating disorders

Black girls don’t get eating disorders -
And yet we do,
You may not see it but we do,
We live it, we breathe it - we are it
You say ‘a black girl can’t struggle’
I say ‘unlike you eating disorders don’t discriminate’
Our bodies are scrutinised - so what did you expect,
When you made a comment, and i followed through -
With results that you ignore,
Results that you score,
Results you caused - from your poor choice of words
Black girls struggle too,
Our bodies are the proof -
The truth,
That you deny,
But the numbers don’t lie,
And our bodies still cry -
For help,
Help that we don’t receive -
Because the world can’t believe,
That black girls get eating disorders too,
And how do i know this - it’s because i am living proof -
That black girls get eating disorders too

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Rachel Steinmetz April 9, 2026 at 8:12 PM im so so sorry for your struggles. i have experience with eating disorders too and i am proof that you can recover! there is hope!

Paul Bell April 1, 2026 at 3:33 AM I would imagine eating disorders don't discriminate. Maybe there's a perception that you must be the same as the airbrushed figures portrayed on social media. Sadly we all have hangups, and its how we deal with them that defines us.