MAYBE ALL BLACK PEOPLE ARE ANGELS

LillieMarie Johnson 

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“Want to know if that same rope that did the lynchings are still tied to that tree that the paper

from my notebook came from, ‘cause I can’t seem to move either. That tree has us

both by the neck and the wing.” - Tank and the Bangs, Trading Wings

 

I have an idea. Now hear me out.

What if all black people are angels?

I mean it makes so much sense, because so many black bodies have been found wading

in the water, floating on top like Jesus walking across it;

All that to say that our ancestors make up the salt of the Earth and the Sea, so maybe if

we aren’t angels at least we are the world.

 

But if all black people are angels I mean, wouldn’t it make sense,

Because people love to see us suspended in air,

Lashes on our backs trying to get to our wings,

And putting prices on what is not naturally theirs.

 

Maybe all black people are angels?

Because the closest I’ve come to hearing an angel sing has been a heartbroken, black

woman.

The closest I’ve come to hearing angels sing has been a choir of black people.

I mean, the closest I’ve come to seeing an angel has been a black woman in the summer,

                or winter,              or fall,         or spring.

Okay, you handcuffedkilled- caught me, the closest I’ve come to seeing an angel has

been a black women.

So maybe, just maybe I have a valid point.

 

I can’t think of a backdrop that black people don’t look good on or in.

And maybe, we are taught to pray so much, because that’s how we keep our wings, our

blackness, our heavenly bodies on Earth.

And who else can be Jesus’ right hand then someone who understands being the under

dog?

A people who understand how to take a  whipping and still work for those that have

hurt them?

A people who know how to turn the other cheek so fast, that it would give any other

person whiplash.

 

And this is why I believe all black people are angels,

Because what other people can understand centuries of just wanting others to believe in

them;

Centuries of trying to be seen as a woman/man instead of a lowlife…

Maybe black people are angels, because we’ve been blessed with the curse of knowing.

We always say that we want to be like Jesus anyway.