Paint Me White and I Will Still Be Black
You can paint me white and I will still be black
Turn my ebony black hair, make sure the chemicals
Touch every strand of my hair, erasing all trace of
My pitch black kaffir but I will still be black.
Teach me how to walk, tell me what to wear
You can even show me your version of
Civilisation yet I will still be black .
Teach me your language, let me master
The vocabulary, the pronunciation but remember,
I will still be black
Literature, science, physics,decency...yes yes
Fill that in my head puncture your history in the depths
Of me and feed me with your lies but I will still be black
Tell me I'm wrong for my awareness, threaten me with
Prison and even with my life...yes yes
Persecute me with your words but still I will
Be black no no I will not be a slave nor will
I be less than a human being. My rights
Will be intact and my freedom a shall be won
Because with all you have done, all you think you have
Taught me in your attempt to make me whit..o
During the process of you painting me white!!
I am..I am still black and concious, I am still black
And proud...I am the descendant of that old slave still
That man you would flog all day till there was no more
Flesh left to be torn, the descendant of that wrinkled
Woman you would forcefully penetrate for years on end
I am that young boy, that young girl you stole away from their
Families as though their hearts were just mere illusion
I am black and aware of that man you
Assassinated simply because he cried "freedom"
Steve Biko , Chris Hani, King Albert Luthuli,
MartinLuther King and Malcom X I am
Sure you have heard those names
I am the black daughter of that woman you
Disgraced and twisted.I am black
A black young woman at the peak of her life
Embracing hee struggle felt history
Preparing for the history to be made again
So, even if you paint me white, burn my hair
With your toxins, dress me like a doll
Tell me how to walk, talk, sit and even eat...
I will still be black as I have a free mind.
Copyright © Mbalenhle Lyca Khumalo | Year Posted 2015
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