a poem inspired by a white man
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When will black be beautiful
When will strong thick thighs
Noses broad and wide
Be exemplified
Like the pale skin models
Under runway lights
When will nappy hair be in style
So I wouldn’t have to pay sixty dollars
To feel lovely sometimes
When will these deep brown eyes
Be the object of not just my own kind
Cause in a world where everyone says gray’s alright
We’re all still very black and white
When what we say just doesn’t “feel right”
And while the little girl in me
Still wishes her eyes were blue with a tint of green
That her hair was light and long like Sleeping Beauty
Cause that’s the only beauty she’s ever seen
I’m waiting for the remedy
For someone to say
To the little black girl with braids
Cause that’s all those naps could do some days
You’re beautiful too in every way
