THANKFUL TO BE BROWN

i am thankful and proud
that god chose me to be
browm

i feel so honored
that when i was being
conceived he deigned
to confer chocolate
on me
and nappy hair
which has not been processed
for eleven years now

i look at my brown skin
and see its' beauty
its' color
its' texture
and i am eternally grateful
to have been chosen
to represent
my people
chosen in love

i will forget
for the next couple of
months, that i am one
of the most hated things
on mother earth
that because of my beautiful
god chosen brown
people hate me
despise me
say that i am
inherently stupid
because of my brown
because they hate my brown

i will set aside thoughts
that they jail my brown brothers
hate my brown brothers
fear my brown brothers
that they will one day
be seen as equals
as capable of doing as much
if not more as any
of god's other colors
afraid they must share
god's earth with his brown creations

i will chose to do as i have always
done and celebrate the coming holidays
of the birth of my lord and savior
jesus christ
celebrate the many gifts he has bestowed
upon me such as my family and friends
the gift of life after a heart attack
of living one more year
and of having the wherewithal to get by
as we brown people say

it ain't easy being brown
for all that god's other colors
want to deny you
but i wouldn't give nothing
for my journey now
wouldn't take nothing for
my journey now

i pray to god
if i have to come back
this way again
please
i beg you
pray you
please
make me brown
make me cool
make me soulful
make me jazz
make me blues
make me r&b
make me soul food
candied yams
greens
ham bones and green beans
and for heaven's sake
don't forget
to make me
potato salad
make me a sistah

god made me brown
because he knew
i could endure
i could survive
as did
my brown mothers
and fathers
before me
slavery
brutality
jim crow
nigger
lynchings
cross burnings
i've seen one
at my home
no education
poor education
no rights
dr. king
civil rights
i've lived to
witness most of
it change
and not change

but still
i'm thankful
for life
and to be chosen
to be brown
it is an honor
and a privilege
i'm glad to say
i've lived