Poetry + Black Girl Magic
Bringing up the Girls
A poetry prose on Blackness and culture
My Jamaican mama taught me
How to strut
She modeled it in every encounter that l saw
She would kiss her teeth and tip her forehead to the sky, whenever anyone dared to try to talk her down
She would stare any man or women in the eye if they dared to diss’ her with their words or their lack of manners which they might foolishly direct to her or to her children
Made them think twice before they tried that insult again
So, how can l and my sisters not emulate her behavior and carry the baton, a beacon for our own families? To
Generate a growth of self- love
That Mama taught us as her Mama taught her- saying
“Become all that you can be.”
I am proud that l was born to her
That l was
Cherished and loved to celebrate the individuality of me. It is because of her inspiration that l find that l aspire to
find my own place
And to fulfill my own destiny, born to be a
Black
British
Woman
©2021 Erica B Donaldson-Ellison
