Supremacy
by Ariana Brown
I want to talk about white women.
I want to talk about fifth grade
& dominic jackson garcia, the afrolatino boy
whose holy mouth chose the white girl instead.
black boys shared hot cheetos with me,
held hands with them, more concerned
with aspen & kaedee than my glossy neck.
wanted to swallow a white
girl’s smile, fold it in their pockets
to keep them warm.
I, frozen on the black-
top, red-handed, embarrassment.
I’m ready to talk
about white women.
how the lyft driver,
black man, blames his black girlfriend
for his inability to pay rent.
how he breaks open his saliva
to drown my body,
says, “I’m just gonna get me a white woman.
no offense.”
I want to talk about white women.
the ones who step in front of me in line,
who follow me in stores,
who grab my
hair shoulders arm
“what-a-great-tattoo-I’ve-always-wanted-a-dreamcatcher”
“I-love-your-hair-how-did-you-get-it-like-that”
“I’m-touching-you-to-prove-I’m-not-uncomfortable”
I want to talk about white supremacy.
supreme, meaning:
superior to all others.
as in: diana ross and the supremes.
as in: moonwalk so supreme
make yours look earthly. I’m extraterrestrial.
got two moons for feet & heaven say
my name a galaxy.
is this what you meant when you said I’m too angry?
too sure about the limits
of this world,
that I spoke about pain
like a thousand sharecropping grandmothers,
that I exaggerated,
that I wasn’t nice
the way white women make you feel?
supreme, meaning:
strongest, most important, or most powerful.
so I flash my teeth, catch
light in my mouth, grow
my hair thick as a plague.
don’t speak
when I’m speaking.
white men apologize to me now.
men of color call me difficult. I roll my eyes, hold my heart
like the gift it is, hold the hearts of my sisters.
supreme, meaning:
involving death.
as in: supreme sacrifice.
black women everywhere
you thought we weren’t -
germany: holocaust
mexico: conquest
slavery global economy
- the worldwide girlchildren of empire.
they ain’t got numbers bold enough to count the ones we’ve lost.
supreme, last definition:
a rich cream sauce.
my mother buys
sauce packets for 17 cents at the grocery.
says,
they’re no good
for you. says,
they’re all salt.
they’re all lot & his wife, city on fire:
rosewood: burning
because of a white woman’s expression.
the hair like woven silk,
skin shining like fresh milk, crosses
my path like an ancient warning.
in what version of the story
do black women win?
I want to talk about fifth grade
& dominic jackson garcia, the afrolatino boy
whose holy mouth chose the white girl instead.
black boys shared hot cheetos with me,
held hands with them, more concerned
with aspen & kaedee than my glossy neck.
wanted to swallow a white
girl’s smile, fold it in their pockets
to keep them warm.
I, frozen on the black-
top, red-handed, embarrassment.
I’m ready to talk
about white women.
how the lyft driver,
black man, blames his black girlfriend
for his inability to pay rent.
how he breaks open his saliva
to drown my body,
says, “I’m just gonna get me a white woman.
no offense.”
I want to talk about white women.
the ones who step in front of me in line,
who follow me in stores,
who grab my
hair shoulders arm
“what-a-great-tattoo-I’ve-always-wanted-a-dreamcatcher”
“I-love-your-hair-how-did-you-get-it-like-that”
“I’m-touching-you-to-prove-I’m-not-uncomfortable”
I want to talk about white supremacy.
supreme, meaning:
superior to all others.
as in: diana ross and the supremes.
as in: moonwalk so supreme
make yours look earthly. I’m extraterrestrial.
got two moons for feet & heaven say
my name a galaxy.
is this what you meant when you said I’m too angry?
too sure about the limits
of this world,
that I spoke about pain
like a thousand sharecropping grandmothers,
that I exaggerated,
that I wasn’t nice
the way white women make you feel?
supreme, meaning:
strongest, most important, or most powerful.
so I flash my teeth, catch
light in my mouth, grow
my hair thick as a plague.
don’t speak
when I’m speaking.
white men apologize to me now.
men of color call me difficult. I roll my eyes, hold my heart
like the gift it is, hold the hearts of my sisters.
supreme, meaning:
involving death.
as in: supreme sacrifice.
black women everywhere
you thought we weren’t -
germany: holocaust
mexico: conquest
slavery global economy
- the worldwide girlchildren of empire.
they ain’t got numbers bold enough to count the ones we’ve lost.
supreme, last definition:
a rich cream sauce.
my mother buys
sauce packets for 17 cents at the grocery.
says,
they’re no good
for you. says,
they’re all salt.
they’re all lot & his wife, city on fire:
rosewood: burning
because of a white woman’s expression.
the hair like woven silk,
skin shining like fresh milk, crosses
my path like an ancient warning.
in what version of the story
do black women win?
Ariana Brown is an Afromexicana poet from San Antonio, Texas, with a B.A. in African Diaspora Studies and Mexican American Studies from UT Austin. She is the recipient of two Academy of American Poets Prizes and a 2014 collegiate national poetry slam champion. An alum of Brave New Voices, Ariana's work has been featured in PBS, Huffington Post, Blavity, For Harriet, and Remezcla. Ariana, who has been dubbed a "part-time curandera," has performed across the U.S. at venues such as the San Antonio Guadalupe Theater, University of California - Santa Cruz, Tucson Poetry Festival, and the San Francisco Opera Theatre. When she is not onstage, she is probably eating an avocado, listening to the Kumbia Kings, or validating black girl rage in all its miraculous forms. Her work is published or forthcoming in Nepantla, African Voices, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, and ¡Manteca!: An Anthology of Afro-Latin@ Poets from Arte Público Press. She is currently earning an MFA in Poetry at the University of Pittsburgh.