I haven't forgotten I am a feminist
that my bones
are the dust under stomping horses
my stomach
the forced feedings
my soul
the pain, the misery from the beatings
even though I may seem so quiet.
I haven't forgotten those women
the nameless, the unknown
the heroines
throughout Herstory
before Mystory
and Theirstory is ever known
Do I dare call them by name?
Margarat Sanger, I beseech you now
Alice Walker
Eve Ensler
Li Xiaojiang, I beseech you
Susan B. Anthony
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Sojourner Truth, I beseech you
Keep your spirits among us
your words in in our heads
for we are still fighting hard
to keep pink relative to experience
never lowering the bar.
I sit in a classroom with children
I have the power to shape their minds
Give me the ability to keep the hope alive
beyond the plastic Barbie dolls
fake, superficial TV personalities
kindergardeners in makeup and on diets
10 year olds worried about their size.
To those who've gone on before me
the women who've tread the road to equality
pushed past the ceilings of glass
and died for our cause
I remember you
To those who walk beside me
in Afganistan, Iraq, India, the Sudan
in America, in Florida, in Bradenton
my V-day cast, my college president, my dad
I remember you
To those who are to come
I will work until I am done
The voice of womanism will live on
My classroom will be completely free
for my students to be
who they want to be
I will remember my purpose always.
