May 13th, 2022

#31DaysIBPOC 
When a Black Girl Embraces Dr. Clint Smith
Honoring Black Princesses in Educational Spaces
 
I take great joy in watching 
Black girls embrace 
Clint Smith
For the first time
 
After a brief introduction of his academic accolades
And eyebrows raise around the room on 
His connections with Harvard
Words begin to spill out of
His mouth and
There is always one Black girl
Whose eyes begin to sparkle
 
Her admiration 
Doesn’t come from his dashingly good looks
It’s his words that speaks to her heart
That message stirs up 
Her soul 
Brings about
The ancestors’ blood that runs
Through her veins
 
The Motherland gene senses that
His performance is for her watchful eyes
For her listening ears 
That will soon be in sync
With her future son’s presence
 
Words that speak of her child that 
Will carry the curse of being a
Black man in this world
Filled with white faces that will judge his
Every action with fear and lack
Of understanding
 
Those Black momma dreams
And fears
Those worries that her child
Will feed the greedy larva that 
Explore six feet under 
And be the next name
Chiseled on a headstone 
And repeated by millions
With the hashtag in front to show
Her child is another link
In the enslavement chain of Police
Brutality
 
Those “soon-to-be” Black mama’s eyes 

They are already encased in her face
And they appear while Clint
Speaks his truth on screen

Her eyes quickly blink
In fear that she might miss
An item that is essential for 
Black folks survival
And those ebony eyes push back 
The emotional tears
 
There is 
A panicked moment where she lets her 
Eyes jet to each Black boy sitting 
Close to her in class
With wonder and concern


How can anyone protect them?
Will the pain of another Black life lost
Be too much to bear?
 
Once Dr. Smith finishes
This girl will always look toward me
With a face filled with appreciation
And confusion
 
The latest girl to embrace 
His spell shares
“That man just gave me chills”
As she walks out of the room 
Second-guessing if 
The chills were ones of gratefulness
Or of fear
 
Because Clint preaches 
The present and the prophecy
Neither one is she prepared to embrace
But she knows she has already taken the message 
Into her soul

• This blog post is part of the #31DaysIBPOC Blog Series, a month-long movement to feature the voices of indigenous and teachers of color as writers and scholars. Please CLICK https://gracechoi5.medium.com/what-k-dramas-taught-me-about-myself-7f0333047adf to read yesterday’s blog post by Grace Choi (and be sure to check out the link at the end of each post to catch up on the rest of the blog series).