Oh boy! Only four letters yet such an intimidating word, L-o-v-e. I bet your body had a physical response and your mind split into two specific experiences at the moment you came presently to this word. If you, like me, recalled the toxic nature of a fail-in-love and the utter bliss of the most beautiful fulfilling relationship you felt, most loved, I get it. Perhaps you can touch, or peer at, or are waiting to be with that love. Maybe like me, you’re veering off into the unknown wondering if you’re experiencing that emotion in this moment or it’s a distant, strange reality. Why Love? By sharing my experiences and highlighting all that I am, I will bring you on a journey of love by, from, and for women.
“You may write me down in history, With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt, But still, like dust, I’ll rise.” Maya Angelou, Still I Rise
My first youthful oratorical presentation was poetry written by my favourite Poet, Maya Angelou; ‘Still I Rise.’ I have volleyed back and forth in life memorializing and applying her words throughout my years. Today it is still relevant and applicable. Still, I Rise. I will admit bias. I have only experienced what love looks like for me as a Woman, a Mother, and Friend. Having gone through so many acts in life, some fulfilling, some not so much, and others worth real self-introspection, I choose to rise.
Society teaches women to be insecure, to be subject to intimidation, to fear, healthy love. Yet as pillars of society, I believe there is no greater love or experience of truth, authenticity, and culture, than that of the Melanated-Woman. There is no other more selfless who will place down past hurts and failure to pick up another’s cross at the expense of her life and fight for your cause because she loves, no, she values your human existence.
I have had several encounters of love. I have dated White, Black, Italian, West Indian, British and the proverbial list goes on. Let’s say here, my dopamines are and have been wide open. If you’re thinking high all the time you’re right, however, not on Cocaine; Sex, Love, and a bit of Rock n Roll. Society and family coined me as loose, as indecent, and as evidence of everything that engulfs self-disrespect. I had my belly pierced, I wore midriffs, short-shorts, leather skirts, and stiletto heels. I danced on poles and prided my seduction of men and enjoyed the orgasms that came from being so engulfed in an eyes-wide-open fantasy.
I still want a Ballroom fleeced with sheer white curtains and nude tuxedos in a Mascarade of sex to adorn my becoming a whole 40 years old. I am proud evidence of an a-typical female in today’s society, positively and open sexually; extremely godless. Well if you’re my partner, you may have the opportunity to be my God, and I would like to get on my knees to worship in this manner. Oh Wow. Did you have to go so in-depth? Yes! Yes, I did.
Cardi B and Megan the Stallion came out with a song, WAP utilizing their art to have their voices heard as women, empowering, and eliminating stigmatization. Social media is in an uproar. I posed a question. What’s so bad about the song? It seems accurate and sounds good. When it comes to Cardi B, I respect her as a woman. She wears all of it openly with not one inkling or care of what you may think. Say what you mean, mean what you say, Ayeeee! To me, that’s Cardi.
But why? Why are men and women so in awe about two women saying how they want to be properly serviced in their, Y? Why does it bother people that a womans’ life mission isn’t to commit to one man but serve her body to a buffet of sexually explicit encounters that adorn the beauty of her crown and skin? When the ‘K’ family does it, no one speaks. But of these two, and now everyone wants to have a revival, offer salvation, and add condemnation.
While I, like these two ladies, enjoy a sensual pounding, a good choke about my neck, a bite here and all sorts of bruises of which wear as adornments reflecting my good times; I am human. Although my *ss hangs out and my bust sits up big, beautiful, and I call for the immediate sexualizing of my person in your thoughts on-site; I have words and want you to hear me when I speak. Why can’t I get emotional or cry, and when I say NO or Not tonight? How come when I say, I do not want you, are my words not respected? When I admit I’ve been hurt, abused, kidnapped and sold; do all of my desires and who I am give you pause to consider the worthiness of aiding me?
I am a Melanated Woman. I have a big heart. I am human. I am a mother. I have been hurt. I have been abandoned. I have loved and not loved back. I have been manipulated and seduced. I have experienced the pain of birth. I am intimidated continuously. I am denied the right to live my life. Others duplicate me and get praise where I have been and still am crucified. I am your best friend and your worst enemy. I am the one you have nightmares of when you cross those of whom I love and care. I stand in the paint. I live in the poorest of forms and rise. I overcame the absence of my fatherless child. I accept that I do not know the love of my father. I press on although my body has been weaponized. I am Human and Woman. I love to f*ck. I am passionate about love. I want my loyalty returned. And yes, I got that WAP!
“Out of the huts of history’s shame, I rise, Up from a past that’s rooted in pain, I rise, I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.” Maya Angelou, Still I Rise
These are views shared by AFRIKIN. We believe in the expression of art in many forms making a collective statement in the same way the WAP video and song moved many. At afrikin.org Art is Life. We join Megan the Stallion and Cardi B on their openness to express their art, their lives, their femininity, and their truth.
Women will not be intimidated: Art of Intimidation
Written by: S. B. Campbell
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