Open Door (from the Battle: MamasisterdaughterQueen vs Black Brother-3rd place winner 2011)

Original Author
Tiny
Original Body

 

Every time you get together,
Black women always
Lament over their male counterparts.
 
 
One sister would ask,
"Where are all the good Black men?"
Another sister would give
The expected answer:
"They in jail".
 
 
There's no denying
That if you look inside of any
Jailhouse, you will find
More Black men
Than at a sold-out Wu Tang Clan show.
 
 
Don't forget, there are good Black men
Outside the jailhouse walls.
You'd quickly get with one
If he has
The right vehicle,
The right house,
The correct look
And most importantly, the correct
Amount of cash
And lots of it.
 
 
Security is what you seek, but doesn't
Every woman want that?
 
 
I cannot speak for other brothers,
Just on my own behalf.
I have no vehicle,
I live in the inner city,
I'm not the B.E.T. Rap video thug
Or the Ebony magazine overdressed gigolo type.
I'm so poor.
In your eyes, I'm this failed
Experiment in adult life.
Not a good provider for anyone.
Target of a racist, classist society.
But each day, despite all
Obstacles & shortcomings, I'm trying to be
A decent Black man.
 
 
You haven't lost me to a White woman,
As many of you would claim.
You haven't lost me to the holding cell
At some county jail.
In fact, you cannot lose
What you never had from jump.
 
 
My door is always open
To women of all skinshades & races.
My door is open to you, too.
There's no discrimination policy.
No turning away the procreator
Of Black life.
 
 
Pass through it and you'll find
Where one good Black man is.
____________________________
W: 2.11.11
[ An open letter to African females. ]
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