Queen.

i’ve been thinkin bout you, for quite a while.

you’re on my mind everyday and every night.

my every thought is you, the things you do.

seems so satisfying to me,

i must confess it, girl.

without you, i wouldn’t be here.

you embody everything that i love. you embody everything i look for in humans, let alone women.

honest. respectful. supportive.

Black woman. you have not been appreciated enough by me. and i’m sorry. this world has played you. you’re Black AND a woman. you were born with 2 strikes against you. it is my job, duty to protect and respect and help preserve you. the job of me, a Black man, is to love on and protect you. ima do my job.

Black woman. you ARE the standard. hey Momma. you are the bar. you are the model. you make the trends we see. you make the words we use. you make things dope. YOU are a great momma. YOU are a great sister. YOU are a great wife. YOU are a great friend. YOU are great.

do not let anyone tell you otherwise. do not let your dad make you feel little. do not let your momma make you feel insecure or inferior. do not let a dude make you feel stupid or underappreciated. do not let the media and social make you feel you aren’t beautiful and rare.

confidence. strong. loving.

Black woman. you have shown me love. you helped me define what LOVE is. what it means. what it looks like. what it feels like. you’ve been shot down. clowned. disappointed. hated. and you still have love in your heart. you still forgive. and you don’t deserve it. your shoulder shouldn’t have to be there every time we need you. you shouldn’t have to lift us up every time. that’s not your job. your job isn’t to be a counselor and consultant and wife and mother and muse and friend and sister and teacher and motivational speaker and chef. we ask for so much. too much. and look at how we repay you. Black woman, the world does not deserve you.

curvaceous. gorgeous. beautiful.

Black woman. how can something so gangsta be so pretty in pictures? you are exactly what i love. precisely. do you. your skin. light skin. brown skin. dark skin. kinda beige looking like cardboard skin. i am in love. you are beautiful. tall. short. dresses. heels. adidas. tattoos. nose ring. thin. thick. big. keep being unique. witcho big lips. small lips. chubby cheeks. small nose. you are beautiful. beautiful in many ways. in all ways. i’m getting high on my own supply. smelling like coconut oil or shea butter. nails done. no make up. make up. lip gloss. lip stick. glasses. man please. yall bodies are unbelievable. you are the standard. from the toes to the thighs to the stretch marks to the stomach to the little belly button to the ass to the breasteses to the perfect lips to the cheeks to the sizable foreheads yall got to the beautiful hair.

hair. let’s talk about ya hair please.

2a 3j 4a 4b 4c 4gajxuciosn. doesn’t matter to me.

Black woman. your hair is magical. short hair. long hair. curly hair. straight hair. locs. braids. natural. weave. please. if you are confident in who YOU are and aren’t ashamed/embarrassed by what YOU were BORN with, girl. slay. ain’t that what Beyoncé say. just washed it and it’s frizzy. gotta bun. in a scarf. when yall do the scarf thing with the Kente cloth? man. naturaaaaal. naps and all. smelling like Carol’s Daughter. got that ORS edge control. i see you. rock ya hair with confidence. rock that fro to work. rock that ponytail. rock those locs. stunt with that little short hair cut. i’m ya number #1 fan. “issa” yes from me.

i love your physical attributes. that alone makes one a renegade. everything about YOU is opposite of what society tells us is beautiful. your hair isn’t always straight. it is not “professional” apparently and i’m yelling BABY WON’T YOU COME MY WAY. your skin is brown. melaninated. golden. the opposite of these european standards. and i ain’t attracted to anything but. your body is curvy. so unlike these “beautiful” models. and i’m tryna figure how every pair of jeans fit you so well. don’t change one thing, Queen. God made you.

i like the way you comb your hair.

and i like those stylish clothes you wear.

it’s just the little things you do,

that show how much you really care.

like when i’m all alone with you,

you know exactly what to do.

you put that fire inside of me,

and make it more than just a dream.

you know how you listen to a REALLY good relatable love song and you can’t even sing it so you just smile? that’s how i feel with you, Black Woman. and i like it.

Black woman. how are you so wise? how did you gain so much knowledge? i have not come across a community of women who are collectively as smart and challenging as y’all are. overall. socially knowledgeable to go along with being politically versed to go along with fashion to pair with book smart to go with sports and music and history and diet. i can talk about Malcolm X then talk about Meek Mill then about finances then bring up the Bible then talk about Boyz N The Hood then talk about veganism then talk about subjects and predicates. i am thoroughly impressed and grateful to be born from yall. yall know how to cook and raise kids. yall know how to fight and able to calm us down. yall talk with such eloquence then be able to have ya own jargon.

personality. ego. behavior.

Black woman. ain’t nothing more desirable than a confident person to me. and yall are the definition of it. yall don’t settle for any ol scrub. and boys are intimidated by it. boys don’t like when women won’t accept their foolishness. a Black Woman will tell you what they are looking for. yall tell us what yall aren’t gonna take. what yall aren’t gonna tolerate. yall set the tone from the gate. some call it attitude. i call it personality. i call it standards. there’s some cultures where “feisty” is a turn on. in our culture, that same flame is called ratchet.

struggles. hardships. poise.

Black woman. you go thru hell. you wake up and get ready to walk thru hell. you have 2 things this world hates: Black skin and the gender of a woman. you got it bad. it kills me seeing you go thru what. yall rock gold grills, it’s ghetto. other races rock gold ones, it’s dope. rock a head scarf, that’s something only you should wear at home. others do it, it’s fashion. Black women can’t LIVE without being scrutinized. all of the attention is on Black males. from being imprisoned to getting killed.

RIP NIA WILSON. i have had enough. my heart is heavy.

while it is rough, i will never understand the struggle you have to endure. i will fight for you. i will protect you. i will stand up for you. i will ride for you. i will die for you. my heart goes out to you. stay strong. stay positive. at the end of the day, you’re still human. as great as you are, as strong and mentally tough as you are, as tolerant as you are, as loving as you are, you’re still a human. you have feelings. you have emotions. you’re REAL. sometimes we don’t realize how much you’re carrying. sometimes we take you for granted. sometimes we think yall are robots.

and you’re not. you’re human.

love yourself. love your attitude. love your music. love your hair. love your decisions. love your body. love your breasts. love your stretch marks. love your skills. love your nose. love your eyes. love your skin. love your feet. love your mind. love your ambition. love your sisters. love your life. love yourself.

i care about your mental health. i pray for you daily. i want and need you to succeed financially. i support your choices. if you been making decisions and been in the same unhappy unfulfilling mindset and position, i will check you. i support your career goals. i pick your brain. i desire deep intellectual conversations. i will push you to put your phone down. i will be on your head to read more. i will urge you to save money. i will suggest you invest and make your money make money. i will preach independence from systems that need you to depend on them. i want to go thru life with you. if this is hell, i want to hold your hand so you won’t have to do it solo. i want you to have wiser friends. i want to be fully invested in you. i care about you.

Lord knows i can’t sing, but i wanna sing to you. Lord knows i can’t dance, but i wanna dance with you. Lord knows i never remember my dreams, but i have a dream book of you. Lord knows i don’t smile often, but i can do nothing BUT smile when i see you or think of you. i want you.

i have only dated one Black woman. and i know what i want. i was once told “you need to know for sure. you need to go out with other people to know you know happiness.” huh? i don’t have to dabble to find this out. i don’t have to experiment to be certain. i don’t have to belittle others to lift up others. i don’t find it a necessity to date seven to know the one. you’re the reason God made a girl.

if you know, you know.

and one day, i will propose to you. one one, i will be on the other side of the aisle as you walk down. one day, i will be your life partner. one day, i will be a father to your kids. one day, i will own a house with you. one day, i will be on vacation with you. one day, i will be talking to God with you before we go to sleep. one day, i will get pulled over and harassed and be utterly angry, and you will know exactly what to do and say, or not say. one day, i will have to teach a Black boy to be a Black man and you will be along for the ride seeing you love me for the man that i am. one day, i will have you as my beneficiary. one day, my wealth will go to you and our Black babies/kids. one day, i will be cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner for you. one day, i will be honored to say “i am fully invested in my Black woman and my Black woman is fully committed to me.” my legacy began with you, will be involved with you and will end with you. every cell in my body needs you to live. if i THOUGHT i was done, you are the missing piece to my puzzle called life.

i love you, Queen.

signed, King.