Alixa’s Womanifesto
I come from my great grandmother
A black woman
Who worked till her heart gave
in the mountains of Colombia
With 11 children to tend
And campesinos to feed
From morning till darkness came
I come from my grandmother
A black woman
Who married a white spaniard at 14
a man she didn’t know
Gave birth to 6
One of which died in her womb
she gave birth to my uncle on her kitchen floor
by herself
in the mountains of Colombia
she cut the umbilical cord
gave birth to my mother
while my grandfather slept, sick next to her
silently
biting her bottom lip
woke him up to silence the child
cut the cord
and placed the infant on her chest
this was just birth
imagine the life that followed
I come from my mother’s intentions
Married at 15
She pushed through college
With two babies by her side
Pulled us from her breast
Took us out of our homeland
To give us more then one chance
Has stood up for herself in a machista society
Picked up rocks and flung them at the police
Picked the book
And taught children to read
Picked up the holy
to revealed the spirit on autumn leaves
I come from a long line of powerful women with thunder
in their heart
Who speak in tongues to converse with God
Who fought their children’s fathers for the right to
speak up
Who gave up their place so the following generation
could grow under no shade
And learn to stand up right
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