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LITTLE BROWN GIRL

My little brown girl, BY TAZHAE WILLIAMS
Filled with questions and amazement,
Looks at the world through eyes of love
And asks me "what does black lives matter mean?"
"Everyone matters, right?"
As much as I want to look my baby in the eyes
And tell her that all lives matter--
That everyone has an equal chance in this world--
I can't.

I want to be able to tell my baby girl
That her color does not count against her
That who she is inside is what matters the most

That the law does not count the amount of melanin in her skin as "ounces of black
blood"

But I can't because the land we live in functions on a system of class and order
An order in which we, black people, were once enslaved and forced to face
inequalities in
a world we didn't choose

I pray she never has to face these inequalities
I pray that she never has to hear
"you are beautiful for a black girl"

I pray that she never has to downplay her beauty to be something that she isn't
I pray that she never has to worry about being gunned down for her color
and that the word "nigga" is never used against her
But I can only pray

No one knows when change will come

When the day that we will be able to say "all lives matter"
And mean it will come around

When African American parents can tell their children that

Being a minority does not mean that our souls are worth less than the majority
One day, I hope to tell my child that every part of her,

From her thick kinky hair to her little brown toes that dresses her beautiful soul,
Matters just as much as every other person on this planet