Self love is unlearning the centuries old myths of black undesirability,
Unlearning self-hatred
Self-love is Sara-Baartman
They used to call me Baartman
They still call me Baartman
I am dark
My ass too fat
White men label my ass Steatopygia, as if it were some illness
Malformed.
I am hypersexualised by uncles, fathers, aunts.
I look like Baartman
Appropriators of this symbol of black feminine beauty, are glorified.
Kardashian
Yet my black Baartman-ness, is disdained, made video-hoe to performances of hypermasculinity
Unfortunately,
White man, black man, black patriarchy princess, white woman, capitalism- all you who embrace misogynoir.
I love Baartman,
She is a testament to the strength of black womxn in the face of adversity
What you deemed ugly and unloveable about her
Is the very essence of her beauty
Sara Baartman is loveable,
Her brown skin is loveable
Her coily hair is loveable
Her Khoi-san heritage is glorious and loveable
Her big black ass is loveable
I love Sara!
I love myself
You will no longer use her as a slur against me
Everytime you call me Baartman, I smile.
For you have glorified my Black Girl Magic!