"Black is beautiful.."
We sing it, chant it, and wear it on our shirts but have we really accepted it as a universal truth. When we have discussions about self esteem and self image we address the women we see on television, magazines, and the women we stereotypically say are "Ghetto." But what of the women who African centered? Has her identification with African culture elevated her self esteem and image to a place where she has no insecurities? Or, are we using just superficial scales to determine if one holds them self in high esteem (i.e. natural hair, the way one clothes them self, etc).Here is the real question if you hated yourself for the majority of your life can a book, movie, and so forth really heal the scars of insecurity.

I am not here to break you
I will not slash you with my tongue
It is my duty to be there when you have challenges you have to overcome
I will not be let you be a sperm donor
No brother
I will not reduce you significance to a concept held by a plantation owner
I will not accept another baby daddy with no sense of responsibility riding in a souped up caddie
I will help you grow into a father
Be all you can be
Even though your dad was not much of a martyr
I will not let you continue to go to jail
Gavels hitting benches sound like black males for sale
I will not feed into the down low conspiracy
It feels like a plot to build more blocks between you and me
You see what I’m trying to say is
I cant give up on you
Not just because we share the same hue
but because our spirits our from the same place
Our dna connected to create a whole entire race
In the beginning it was me and you
I Auset and you Ausar
Brother
You are a shining star
I know you may have your doubts because I’ve failed you in the past
but we're both victims
our short comings don’t have very much contrast
So like I said before
I am not here to break you

1810

You left a woman
Head high full of pride, dreams, and aspirations
Confident in your sexuality
You left Saartjie Baartman

You were fooled like the ancestors before you
Promised notoriety, riches, and jewels
Instead you became a specimen analyzed and poked with their tools
Those things that culturally defined your beauty in their eyes became a sin
Dignity gone you longed for home
But how could you return

1814

You were renamed
Treated like a wild beast not given the right to speak
Your keeper placed you in a cage and you were trained to move upon command
So ashamed you turned to drinking to help you stand
You became Venus Hottentot

They broke you
To survive you sold yourself sexually
Alcohol the most tangible way you could flee the confines of your reality

You left January 1, 1816
But even in death there was no peace
You to them were nothing more than property
Exploited in life and further in death
They carved out your genitalia
Pickled and placed it on display
They had your body cast in wax so it would not decay

March 6, 2002
You left Venus Hottentot behind and became Saartjie Baartman once again