Every time a new movie or book comes out and African-Americans aren’t portrayed in glowing terms, the AA community is up in arms,
Trust me I know from whence this comes,
I can recall as a young girl that no matter what went on in our family,
We were admonished not to discuss it and to always put our best faces forward,
If we were outside playing and had gotten dirty,
We were hauled inside and scrubbed and vaselined until we looked like new money before we could go outside…it was very important to have a good image…
And I agree with that to a great extent,
But what I also know is that keeping things can sometimes fill us with rage and pain,
There were a lot of things I sucked down until I was grown,
Putting on a good face, acting as if though as soon as the occurrence was over,
I was fine…
And I looked fine, but I had a laser sharp tongue that could rip you to shreds,
And could look at folks,
Well they knew…
Because so many of the things I was keeping inside was manifesting itself,
Once I chose to reveal, I was able to heal,
Now I am in no way saying we should walk around telling all the family business,
But what I am saying is that if we teach kids to keep quiet about egregious activities,
We are doing them a disservice,
Just yesterday a young girl was found murdered,
And the story goes her mother had sold her into prostitution,
At age FIVE!
My God, if only she had TOLD someone,
Maybe just maybe she would still be with us,
Or for those young girls who see their mothers beaten to bloody pulps.
Who are told not to say a word,
And to pretend that all is well,
Even though mommy has broken limbs,
And black eyes,
Maybe, just maybe if she had said something or told someone,
Mommy would still be alive,
And she wouldn’t feel it was okay to allow someone to hit her,
I am telling you this,
That every now and then we are going to have to reveal some dirty laundry,
So that we can get it washed, dry cleaned or something,
Because as quiet as it is kept,
Sometimes we have to REVEAL TO HEAL!
BE PEACE~
www.angeliavmenchan.com
