Intergalactic Daughters- A Poem

When writing this poem, I wanted to portray black and blackness in a positive manner. As a black person- a black, African woman- I have hardly seen black or blackness being used to represent good things. Instead, it is commonly used in the images of evil, of terror, of hidden agendas. And also more sadly, as the face of poverty in documentaries, on pamphlets of NGOs and so on. Using this poem, I wanted to use black as a positive metaphor. Where black and blackness are celebrated. Where they are not something to be feared or to be weary of. It was at night and I looked up into the sky and there was a universe of stars and a moon being held in place in a beautiful space of blackness. I then started thinking about the parts of the galaxy that expands far beyond my eye can see. How that space, so vast and wide, becomes the site on which such beauty exists. It becomes "both canvas and creator"as stars are born and held in place to be gazed upon. Then I thought, how powerful and beautiful this blackness is. And that became the metaphor for this poem.

The poem was written for the annual feminist fashion show, Feminazi which is founded and organised by students from the African Leadership University, Mauritius campus. The name, "Feminazi" is usually used in a negative manner, referring to supposedly overly aggressive, man hating (blah blah blah) feminists. However, like many words used negatively against women, it does not take much to be called a feminazi, hence the founders choosing to call the show Feminazi to say if standing for gender equality makes someone a feminazi, then so be it. This year's show was designed to celebrate and encourage having a positive body image through body paint.

I hope you enjoy the poem.