Raisin Acorns
By: Lisa L. Daniels
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Let us grow mighty oaks
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Our acorns keep getting crushed
under the weight of the world
beaten
raped
shot
kneed
lynched
bludgeoned
murdered
Let the acorns grow
in nurtured environments
with clean water
with lots of space
with good roots
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A tree does not chop itself down
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Let us grow our acorns into mighty oaks
instead of being the constant crop of strange fruit picked too soon
with raisin dreams that never raised us
with more acorns to raise that may never grow to be mighty oaks
Hopefully, there will be more justice
By: Lisa L. Daniels
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An audible collective sigh of relief field the air loud as his last gasp.
Living in a war-torn country will make you think that when the right thing actually happens, it's a victory or an extraordinary miracle.
Yes, today is an anomaly in Black History.
A day when 15,000 people were pardoned for marijuana charges in Birmingham, Alabama.
A day when a jury found a police officer guilty of a crime, we all saw happen and replayed constantly on social media and the news.
A day when another family in Minnesota is planning the funeral of a Black man killed by the police.
A day when a 15-year-old Black girl was killed by the police in Ohio.
A day when new winds whistled through old trees.
Hopefully, there will be more justice.
Hopefully, there will be more memories.
Hopefully, there will be more days of getting home safely.
Hopefully, there will be more quiet nights
and bedtime stories
and good night kisses
as more of us can finally
rest in peace
and then wake up once again to experience
another beautiful day.
One day of many.
Leave us alone
By: Lisa L. Daniels
Leave us alone
to be ourselves
to learn what we love about life
to explore elegant environments
to experience the parts of the world that haven't been accessible to us
to engage in opportunities that could help us raise our families to higher levels of safety and happiness.
There
are
levels
to
this.
Leave us alone
at the gas stations
the grocery stores
the restaurants
the malls
the rest stops
the hotels
the parks- dear God the parks
the museums
the neighborhoods
the schools
the libraries
the ballot boxes
the banks
the courts
the constitution
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For some of us, liberty means that you don't have to wake up and think about how white supremacy, sexism, and classism will steal a piece of you.
​
For some of us, there is so much more that seeks to steal pieces of us when all we really want is to be left alone- safe and happy.
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Please leave before I breakout the Julia Sugarbaker version.
How did I get to Paris
By: Lisa L. Daniels
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As others made it to Broadway
As others made it to the NBA
As others made it to Wimbledon
As others made it to the Grammys
As others made it to Carnegie Hall
As others made it to the NFL
I read like Michael Jordan played
I wrote like Michelle Kwan figure skated
I traveled to different worlds like Mae Jemison traveled into space
I spoke like Michelangelo painted
I acted like Whoopi Goldberg in everything
I worked hard but I made it look easy to the people who knew of me.
When I appear on the scene, no one ever knows exactly how taxing it is to wear a 400 year old mask.
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Grounded
By: Lisa L. Daniels
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I once felt that being stuck inside was a bad thing.
Stuck in one place with everything I need is not bad.
I am no longer grounded.
I am using the grounds to plant myself, to work on myself, to learn from myself in quiet moments.
There are too few quiet moments in the lives of Black women.
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The quiet use to haunt me.
The quiet after the last breath of a loved one.
The quiet as someone walks out the door for the last time.
The quiet as loved ones leave for brighter futures.
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Once, the quiet was filled with doubt and the absence of something needed.
Now that I have found myself longing and working for more length and depth and breadth,
the quiet is filled with possibility.
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It's the Black Joy for me
By: Lisa L. Daniels
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On Saturdays, I'd wake up early
to spend my time with people I wanted to see
in places where I wanted to be
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in front of the family television
with my sisters as we watched cartoons and consumed big bowls of cereal
while Momma cleaned collard greens and Daddy cut the grass
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inside the fellowship hall reading scriptures for Bible Study
with the friends and family I only got to see on the weekends
while my uncle manicured the church grounds and my Godmother brought in snacks for VBS
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in the public library
with friends competing for the reading challenge
while Momma and Joy worked on their community college applications
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in the shop making gift baskets and blowing up balloons
with my cousins and customers who wanted to see a Black family business thrive
while my older cousins played pool and basketball
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in Legion Field drinking hot chocolate from the thermos
with my family and friends at the Battle of the Bands
while the marching bands and the fans grooved to the moment
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in the beauty shop
with my mother, my sisters, and my God auntie
while we watched one of Tyler Perry's new plays or BET or UPN
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in the big backyards
with my sister's friends for a birthday cookout learning the cupid shuffle and the two step
while her mother made fall off the bone barbecue
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in my Granny's apartment in South Birmingham
with her and Matlock, Lucy & Ricky, and the Designing Women
while she explained the power dynamics of each person on the show
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New characters don't know the history of getting to do things until they are told
We did these things because we finally
had access to the time
had access to the space
had access to the place
had access to the money
to be who we wanted to be
to dress how we wanted to dress
to be do what we wanted to do
to be where we wanted to be
to go where we wanted to go
Black Joy can be found and created in every space if there is enough love
Find
Create
Nourish
Relish
Protect
Black Joy
For the Queen of Basin Street
By: Lisa L. Daniels
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Dreamgirls gave a sliver of the life
others had to live
for every Diana Ross
there where thousands like Billie Holiday
for every Deena and Miraalee
there where thousands like Effie and Endie
Black women who could saaaaaaaaaaang
but didn't have the right
shape
legs
arms
breast
butts
thighs
lips
hair
nose
eyes
shade
but didn't have the right look
so their songs were by someone else
their songs became the generational wealth of
people who had the right look
when are we going to get back to music
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For the Queen of Basin Street
was the maid in your house
A poem for Juneteenth then and now
By: Lisa L. Daniels
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Who knows what my great,
And my great great,
And my great great great,
And my greatest of great grandmamas in this country went through
-With the burden of being born Black and enslaved in this country,
With the burden of being breeders instead of mothers in this country,
With the burden of bearing children in fields while still picking cotton and doing everything necessary to keep themselves alive in this country,
With the burden of seeing their children sold to another plantation and with no hope of seeing them again in this country,
With the burden of night terrors of slave masters raiding their quarters for children as gator bait in this country,
With the burden of not being able to read, to write, to vote, or to wed in this country.
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I wonder what watch night felt like in this country,
-The New Year’s Eve party of 1862 where my ancestors waited for a new beginning of their lives in this country,
I wonder about
The first book she got to read,
The first letter she got to write,
The first vote she ever got to cast,
The first person she ever got to marry,
The first lynching after the Reconstruction ended,
And then the dread of living in the South again once the federal troops left in this country.
I wonder how many Black prosperous towns she saw turn into ash or flooded to make the man-made lakes and parks in today’s affluent communities in this country.
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I wonder with the burdens my ancestors carried and my soul remembers their hopes
-For greener grass,
For clearer skies,
For a good night’s sleep,
For a better tomorrow,
and for a life filled with peace and prosperity
For generations to come.
I dream of more freedom every day in this country.
#Juneteenth #Alabama #inthiscountrywecallUnited
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The Smart Bar
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When I think about teaching, I think about how I must be a role model in the lives of children.
I must be someone they can look up to and ask for advice.
I cannot risk being "not that smart". I cannot step-and-fetch it. Too much of that has happened to those burdened as "Black Bamas" living on the intersection of people thinking that we aren't smart and people who provide them with evidence:
Evidence that proves their point,
Evidence that says they're right, and
Evidence that there is power in voting in local and state-wide elections.
Remember whatever is said in an election will be said to represent you and your interests.
"Not that smart" won't cut to discuss measures that impact my life.
I would not allow that from a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman, a preacher, or a neighbor and I most certainly won't accept it from a politician.
It's time to raise the bar in our communities. Its time expect more from our representatives.
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