Contested Narratives: Forming a Formation of My Own

“My daddy Alabama, Momma Louisiana

“You mix that negro with that Creole make a Texas bama

“I like my baby heir with baby hair and afros

“I like my negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils

“Earned all this money but they never take the country out me

“I got a hot sauce in my bag, swag”

(Beyoncé)

 

How are people naming me; how am I naming myself?

How are people viewing me; how am I viewing myself?

How are people writing “mystory;” how am I writing it?

What is out to sla’ me?

What do I need to be out to sla’?

 

Is my narrative a slave or an emancipatory one?

Is my life’s sauce mild or hot?

Is my FORMATION someone else’s; or is it mine?

 

I form my own FORMATION!

It’s a FORMATION of my own!