I beg of you, Mainstream Society

Do not underestimate my intellectual talents

Do not take one look at the melanin of my skin and assume that I am less than good enough

Not that I pay any mind to your condemnatory speculations

But I am afraid that your censorious perspective of me may be true

The radiance of my skin I am deeply infatuated with

But of what fellow sisters may say

Indeed, I am petrified

I beg of you, Mainstream Society

Do not continue to eradicate my greatness from the media

Do not make me measure my self-worth on a scale that was never made for me to begin with

Not that I even care about extraneous assumptions

But I am afraid that my fellow brothers may just agree with you

The kinkiness of my hair I wholeheartedly admire

But of what my community may say

Indeed, I am apprehensive

I beg you, Mainstream Society

Do not act like you know what it feels like to be me

Do not pretend to understand my struggle

Not that I am even worried about your curiosity

But I am afraid that if I began to open up to you-you wouldn't even be compassionate

   The fullness of  my lips and the thickness of my hips I profoundly adore

But of what my society deems as perfection

Indeed, I am afraid