I’m Fearful of White People and Whiteness

<IMAGE DESCRIPTION> Joyful Black boy being sprinkled with water. In the blurry background there is another child and an american flag.

By: Cody Charles

i’m fearful of white people and whiteness.
i want them out of our neighborhoods.
i want them out of our schools. Out of our projects. Out of our consciousness.
i want them surveilled upon the arrival of the moon, i want them surveilled once the sun has risen, and i want them surveilled when their white bodies are in the wrong place at the wrong time.
i want them nowhere near MLK Street, MLK Boulevard, or MLK Avenue.
i want them away from our Black joyous children.

i want them off of our bodies.
i want them out of our hair.
i want their ears clogged, so they can’t steal our music.
i want their legs and thighs to reject our fashions and artful dance moves.
i want their hands to be glued into their pockets.
i want their lips to be allergic to melanin.
i want their beating hearts to be used or redistributed.
i want their feet to feel like they’re permanently in quicksand.
i want their power to die off and be cremated- sprinkled into the Atlantic Ocean along the Middle Passage, consumed by the souls of our ancestors.

i want peace.
i want silence.
i want disruption.
i want roaring anger.

i want my Black mother to have it all on her 65th birthday.
i want my Black sister to not have to worry about the violation of her body, and the bodies of her daughters.
i want my Black nephew valued and prioritized at his college institution.
i want Black men safe, and I want them to value and prioritize the safety of Black women, Black queers, Black trans and gender non-conforming folks.
i want Black children to be unabashedly Black children.

i want my wants to matter.
i want my wants to be heard.
i want my wants to be written in scripture.
i want a God that minds my wants.
i want my wants to be holy truth and part of a holy future.
i want the wants of my wants to reign supreme.

i want us to tell the truth(s).
i want us to stop pandering. Stop posturing. Stop lying.
i want us to live in a place where we’re not constantly positioned to convince folks of our pain or wrongful death(s).
i want unapologetic history told and reckoned with.
i want us to explore Black futures.

i want revenge.
but even more, I want to be liberated.

alas, no one cares about my wants, my dreams, nor my living.

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This is the work of Cody Charles; claiming my work does not make me selfish or ego-driven, instead radical and in solidarity with the folk who came before me and have been betrayed by history books and storytellers. Historically, their words have been stolen and reworked without consent. This is the work of Cody Charles. Please discuss, share, and cite properly.

Bio:

Cody Charles is the author of Let It Be A Black Reckoning, Re-Imagining Black Love, You Can’t Outdo Black People, Getting To Know Rosa Lee: An Overdue Conversation With My Mother, Black Joy, We Deserve It, The Night The Moonlight Caught My Eye: Not a Review but a Testimony on the Film Moonlight, 5 Tips For White Folks, As They Engage Jordan Peele’s Get Out. (No Spoilers), Student Affairs is a Sham, 19 Types of Higher Education Professionals, and What Growing Up Black And Poor Taught Me About Resiliency. Join him for more conversation on Twitter (@_codykeith_) and Facebook (Follow Cody Charles). Please visit his blog, Reclaiming Anger, to learn more about him.