"I-I, that is - it might be a little early in our relationship to say something like that...? But, erm. Yes."

obviously, do you think perfect, porcelain glowing skin like this is genetic?

maybe if they solely stopped seeing Black women as magic but also real they’d stop thinking they have claim to our bodies

maybe if our big asses never led to us being called bumble bees they would have been better appreciated until they were seen on a Kardashian

maybe if my body wasn’t the site where they directed their sexual frustrations at, I would never have seen a white woman’s and thought it an aspiration

maybe if I stopped caring so hard they’d think it’s okay to continue

to steal;

our hair,

style,

accents,

heroes,

histories

and food.

give it a new name and Christopher Columbus the whole thing and say “look what we discovered happens to the chicken when you add some seasoning to it”

Yes we know it tastes better.

But they’ll forever see us in that dimly lit light, where only a few of us are allowed to shine

and the rest of us are left with hardly a food, history, heroes, accent, style, hair nor body to call mine.

- image: Michaela Coel; photographed by Joshua Kissi