I am a proud black woman
Every inch, color, curve of my body is something I learned to accept
Something I once questioned while looking at myself in the mirror
I am a proud black woman
Even though I get paid less than my white cousin
And my choice in clothing is frowned upon
I am a proud black woman
Even though my "missing dad" is seen more as a statistic than a cry for help
I am required to push through because of the color of my skin
Or else I'm seen as weak
I am a proud black woman
Throughout the braided hair
The urban dance
The "cool" swag
You see they want to be us until they have to be us
They don't want the discrimination,
The lower pay,
The unfairness
They want everything, but the struggle that makes us, us
They don't want the "dark" stamp of our past
The journey we took through a series of trusted foes
Harriet Tubman
William Still
Prince Hall
Names they claim to know but don't
One thing remains
I am a proud black woman