BLACK PHALANX

black men are fucking beautiful–and it hurts me that sometimes i don’t see that

i was born to a black mother and a white father, with tons of white cousins but none on my mother’s side
so that and systemic toxicity combined so that while only 8 or so i learned how to hold my lips pursed so they’d look less full
and i’d squeeze my nostrils together, striving to look a little more like my dashing padre

the internalized oppression continually reproduced by white supremacy creates vast untold trauma for black folk
making it radical and liberatory to take the streets and chant ‘i love being black’…

but i love so much about blackness
the energy, the music, and the prevalent desire to run metaphoric marathons to move into the few well paying careers open to black people
i love the way we organize
supporting one another as whole people who often need healing and support to keep the reins on our mental health

i love that our present and future is trans, nonbinary, and queer
and i love that we look out for each other in our communities–cuz we keep us safe

we are a diasporic army whose rage and power to organize was forged in the days of chattel slavery in the Americas
unearthing these monstrous systems can seem massively overwhelming
but figure out who you can move somewhere better in your immediate circle
we can emerge as fractals where all personal relationships prefigure the whole

we are in a life and death battle between the logic of liberation and the logic of domination
its time for our black phalanx to build community cohesion around transformational and revolutionary goals

but to change the world we need to change ourselves
i fight every day to hold to how much i love about being black…and i spread that love
because transcendent love must be the bedrock on which our revolutionary fortresses sink their roots

both images are by SLAVA MOGUTIN >> @slavamogutin on IG

–BYPO PHOENIX c)2019