Poem written in January 2014, but still relevant.
I can’t stand it.
Standpoint:
White woman feminist with
Middle-class roots deep in the last century,
I stand in silence.
A gap
Agape (Gr. Αγάπη)
Not speaking because
If I speak
I harm those with whom I want to stand.
White supremacy leaks toxins
Into conversations, lectures, non-verbal exchanges.
Point
Out
I’d like to point out that archival boxes
Protect certain histories and
Fail to preserve others.
We have so many gaps to fill
Because racism erases.
White
Out
I’d like to point out that to lecture students
Is pointless if your whiteness
Overrides thoughtful speech and
Undermines other knowledge and experience
Gained through love, risk and courage.
Agape | Αγάπη
Withstands
Ruth Nicole Brown:
“Listening is the archive.
How to listen is the repertoire.”
I aim to stand in the gap
And point to “a wider repertoire.”
I don’t want to be seen
Pointing
It’s a white thing
Can it be Other
Wise?
