Black Woman Image
By Shameka Ardour
What is the Black Woman's Image?
Is she a Whore
Is she a Helper
Is she a Mother
Is she Innovative
Scholarly, creative
Is she cruel
Bitterly single and forever scorned
Is she a dreamer
Is she a wife
Who is she truly
I've been trying to find out my whole life
Some say she's a goddess
Or even God
Some believe she's the head
Other's, the tail
Abused and underemployed
Or Rich and prestigious
Who is she truly
The hero of our history
Our first lady
Is her true image even projected in the Media, in magazines or pieces of fiction
Maybe she is up the street
Working in a bank
Or teaching Bible School on Sunday Mornings
Who is she
What is the Black Woman's Image
I say Yes to all of those
And none of those
When we give her permission
To be uncaged in her humanity
She can reflect all colors of the world
Just like the main characters in your favorite stories
But with a richer complexity
And more resolute
To push through all the false imagery
Let her be Fire
Let her be Water
Let her be Heaven
Let her be Hell
Let her Self-Destruct, if she chooses
Then watch in awe as She Builds herself back up
Or maybe she stays there a little while to catch her breath
She is the woman that catches our attention
Who brings the people to their knees
But also one who lacks
Who fails
Who cries
Who takes naps
Who gets defeated
Who gets heartbroken, even
She gets ugly
She gets dirty
She misses her hair appointment
Struggles with trust issues
She lives with demons
She hurts too because she feels deeply
She struggles mentally
And with many addictions
I cannot define the Black Woman's image, completely
It may take me a lifetime
Or several
I may never know how to articulate all that is in me as a Woman who happens to be black
It's beginning to seem like an enigma
Undefined in the best way possible
They may try to reduce or inflate the Black woman's image
It does not serve us in that way
So who is the Black woman, you say
Imagine a human being
Now imagine she's black.
