Do You Know Those People...

Readers constantly ask me if I know the people in my books...
Millionaires like Black...
Women in love with two, unable to choose like Cinnamon,
Flawed but loving men like Brown,
Women who love women like Alexandra,
Sad young sisters who confuse love with sex like Kim,
Totally powerful, in charge of themselves young sisters like Malaaka,
Reformed bad boys like JacQuan,
And I say, Of course I do,
We all do,
Many people are in serious denial about the people in their lives,
Who their friends and families are,
Or from whence they have come,
Something that always calls me to belly laugh,
Is when I hear people, mostly Black Folks,
Who say,
'I dont know anyone like that'...
I say Negroes Please,
We all know all kinds of people,
Many of them are in our families,
Or friends, or live within us,
And denying them don't make it any less so,
There are so many folks who store many things in their closets,
Other than designer clothes and shoes,
Dealing with complicated situations as they go through this miasma,
Called life,
So what I have done is, and will continue to do is,
Listen to,
Remember,
Respect,
Embrace,
So that I can write about,
And give voice to those,
Who others pretend not to know,
And that's the Fictionalized Truth...

Smooches and Blessings,
angelia