Greater LA

Poet Bridgette Bianca on connecting through spoken word

Poet Bridgette Bianca recently performed at Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen in South LA. She breaks down one of her pieces, touching on her life and work, and her part in a growing local community of young African American writers.

By Steve Chiotakis • Jan 18, 2020 • 1 min read

Poet Bridgette Bianca recently performed at Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen in South LA. She breaks down one of her pieces, touching on her life and work, and her part in a growing local community of young African American writers.

Bridgette Bianca. Photo credit: Courtney Kocak.

suffragette

realist

socialist

an ally

are jealous

of my oppression

you hastily throw on

your sheerest victimhood

to prove

you

too

have been discriminated against

someone once called you racist

and you were aghast

you

too

have experienced sorrow and suffering

and only your brown nanny

and only your black mammy

was there to kiss your booboo

you

too

have been offended

by words just as bad as nigger with the hard er

such as

snowflake

mayonnaise

pale face

and becky

you

too

have grappled with the burdens of history

the weight of ancestral guilt

is too much to bear

you are tired of apologizing for your privilege

it is unfair

that we all

have issues

but only i

brown

black

migrant

immigrant

indigenous

imported goods gone bad

exported goods marked return to sender

feather headdress and fried chicken

come home to roost

only i

expect

hand outs

a leg up

a head start

some type of affirmation

of my humanity

because i am lazy

even as i work

twice as hard

am twice as polite

clean

strong

fast

smart

nice

good

and the elders taught me

to be humble

to keep my head down

and you'd never notice me

so i don't dance in the end zone

i don't beat my chest after i score

i just adorn myself

in the kind of things

you would call

tacky

ratchet

ghetto

until you

manifest my destiny

repackage it to be cool

urban

tribal

ethnic

and then you tell me

you didn't even notice i was black

you say we are all one race

all lives matter

i know better but

you demand i concede and repeat

you try to pacify me

with your colorblind mythology

the way you once used christ

on a cross

to tether me

even after the chains

were off

you say you don& notice

but i think you do

so i want you to know

i am all that

i am too good

i know my place is first

and if you have to ask

then i have to confirm

the rumors are true

i am better than you

Greater LA

Poet Bridgette Bianca on connecting through spoken word

Poet Bridgette Bianca recently performed at Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen in South LA. She breaks down one of her pieces, touching on her life and work, and her part in a growing local community of young African American writers.

By Steve Chiotakis • Jan 18, 2020 • 1 min read

Bridgette Bianca. Photo credit: Courtney Kocak.

suffragette

realist

socialist

an ally

are jealous

of my oppression

you hastily throw on

your sheerest victimhood

to prove

you

too

have been discriminated against

someone once called you racist

and you were aghast

you

too

have experienced sorrow and suffering

and only your brown nanny

and only your black mammy

was there to kiss your booboo

you

too

have been offended

by words just as bad as nigger with the hard er

such as

snowflake

mayonnaise

pale face

and becky

you

too

have grappled with the burdens of history

the weight of ancestral guilt

is too much to bear

you are tired of apologizing for your privilege

it is unfair

that we all

have issues

but only i

brown

black

migrant

immigrant

indigenous

imported goods gone bad

exported goods marked return to sender

feather headdress and fried chicken

come home to roost

only i

expect

hand outs

a leg up

a head start

some type of affirmation

of my humanity

because i am lazy

even as i work

twice as hard

am twice as polite

clean

strong

fast

smart

nice

good

and the elders taught me

to be humble

to keep my head down

and you'd never notice me

so i don't dance in the end zone

i don't beat my chest after i score

i just adorn myself

in the kind of things

you would call

tacky

ratchet

ghetto

until you

manifest my destiny

repackage it to be cool

urban

tribal

ethnic

and then you tell me

you didn't even notice i was black

you say we are all one race

all lives matter

i know better but

you demand i concede and repeat

you try to pacify me

with your colorblind mythology

the way you once used christ

on a cross

to tether me

even after the chains

were off

you say you don& notice

but i think you do

so i want you to know

i am all that

i am too good

i know my place is first

and if you have to ask

then i have to confirm

the rumors are true

i am better than you

Greater LA

Poet Bridgette Bianca on connecting through spoken word

Poet Bridgette Bianca recently performed at Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen in South LA. She breaks down one of her pieces, touching on her life and work, and her part in a growing local community of young African American writers.

Share

Greater LA

Poet Bridgette Bianca on connecting through spoken word

Poet Bridgette Bianca recently performed at Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen in South LA. She breaks down one of her pieces, touching on her life and work, and her part in a growing local community of young African American writers.

Share