Prayer Edition | Day 7 | Ntozake Shange

“I was missing something

something so important

something promised

a laying on of hands

fingers near my forehead

strong

cool

moving

making me whole

sense pure

all the gods coming into me

laying me open to myself

I was missing something

something promised

something free

a laying on of hands

I know bout/laying on bodies/laying outta man

bringing him all of my fleshy self & some of my pleasure

being taken full eager wet like I get sometimes

I was missing something

a laying on of hands

not a man

laying on

not my mama/holding me tight/saying

I’m always gonna be her girl

not a laying on of bosom and womb

a laying on of hands

the holiness of myself released

I sat up one nite walking a boarding house

screaming/crying/the ghost of another woman

who was missing what I was missing

I wanted to jump up outta my bones

& be done with myself

leave me alone

& go on in the wind

it was too much

I fell into a numbness

til the only tree I could see

took me up in her branches

held me in the breeze

made me dawn dew

that chill at daybreak

the sun wrapped me up swinging rose light everywhere

the sky laid over me like a million men

I was cold/I was burning up/a child

& endlessly weaving garments for the moon

with my tears

I found god in myself

& I loved her/I loved her fiercely”

Spiritual Warrior

Ntozake Shange.

She invited us to find God in ourselves. She ushered entire generations of Black women into liberation. She wrote for those of us who didn’t yet exist. “So, we could have something here when we arrived.” That something was a vision for our lives that was bigger than our trauma. A vision that stitched together the words that had been snatched from our grandmothers’ tongues. She brought them back to life with vivid colorful detail and pain searing truth that forced the world to look our humanity in the face. Through her words, she said all the things that needed to be said. She wrote a Pslam and sang a Black girl blues. She resurrected the weary souls of Black women by breathing holy life into them, one stanza at a time and for this, we celebrate Ntozake Shange as the Patron Saint of Black Girl Healing. Thank you for serving us with such fierceness, dear sister. Today we tell your story. Let each step on today’s walk bring forth more of your powerful works into this world.

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Disclaimer: We do not own the rights to the music or interview excerpt played during this broadcast. Original content can be found here:

I Am Light - India Arie:

https://open.spotify.com/track/6XgtZdXJN7R9Myu80BGebR?si=PGjMQ99pRXarW-70Gc_8SA

A Laying On Of Hands (I Found God In Myself):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0ksLhou1mg&feature;=youtu.be