Been Black My Whole Life

Been Black My Whole Life

I’ve been Black my whole life

I get followed when they see me in sight

Lock the doors and hold that purse tight

I’ve been Black my whole life

It's a wallet not a gun or a knife

I may not live to see another night

I’ve been Black my whole life
10-15 years now I'm doing time?

You know damn well I didn't commit a crime

I’ve been Black my whole life

I'm yelling Black lives matter until they do right

Just like Sofia, all my life I had to fight

‘Cause I’ve been Black my whole life

-Amira Mensah

Comments

Ashanti Curls

After only 25+ years my hair is finally starting to love me back! After untwisting my hair this morning and seeing how perfectly defined each curl was, I thought to myself this must be the joy felt by a new mother who has given birth to their first child. My natural hair journey has been a long one. I cringe when I think back to how I used to "care" for it. I'm embarrassed to admit that I used to keep braids in for 5 months! Yes honey, you read that right five months! I also used to drench my hair in extra strength relaxer, dye it and glue tracks to my scalp. Yikes! I basically had about eight strands of hair on my head holding on for dear life. I didn't really have a choice in going natural. Like a real genius, twenty-one year old Amira decided to dye her hair after relaxing it. I know, I know, BIG MISTAKE. Of course the inevitable happened; my hair started coming out in chunks. That was the last time I put relaxer in my hair, but even after that I still wasn...

Birthday Girl Ashantigyal

My poor roommate! I some how manipulated her into taking pictures of me last night so I could have a bomb birthday Instagram post. 124 photos later, I realized that I hated all of them. I know it sounds ridiculous but I began experiencing extreme anxiety about not having a photo to post this morning. After thinking long and hard for a solution, I remembered that I have a photo of myself as a child that I absolutely love. In the photo you can see baby Ashantigyal sitting on a bench surrounded by plants with her eyes closed soaking in life. When I look back at that photo I see more than just a younger me. I see a child who was radiant, confident and hopeful. I see a little girl who had a clear path to her dreams. As we grow older, we experience growing pains in many forms. For me, my growing pains came in the form of depression and self-doubt. If we are not careful, we can allow our growing pains to debilitate us. This day in my 28th year of life, I am grateful t...

Bruxelles, Belgium 8

I was so relieved the moment I found the perfect camouflage jacket at Mission Thrift in the city. I know, super basic Bay Area wannabe hipster right? But before you judge me, just know this item was a vital addition to my wardrobe. I had already planned an entire outfit around it. Honestly, this wasn't just any outfit, this was my layover outfit. This wasn't just any layover, it was an international layover in Brussels, Belgium for 8 hours. If you know me at all, then you know I play no games when it comes to my layover excursion outfits. When choosing the perfect international layover excursion outfit, the key is to make it look effortless. Obviously, it's clear I put a lot of effort into mine. But no one in Belgium knew that. I'm pretty sure everyone who saw me thought, "wow what and effortless urban-street-chic-edgy look". The time spent clearing customs and taking the train down to Bruxelles Central, left me with only 6.5 hours to eat a Belgian w...

ASHANTIGYAL

Search This Blog