Black Disability (A Short Poem)

My Black disability ain’t about ability 

My Black disability is about your perception

You see my blackness first then get to offending me

You feel my disability and use it like a weapon

The diss ability I carry ‘round like a gun

Shaming myself for slowness of thought

If I could transmit my body to another one

I’d do it but still I’d feel lost

My Black disability ain’t about ability 

But you sure make it seem like it is

2 thoughts on “Black Disability (A Short Poem)

  1. I love this poem. It is really powerful. I love the intentionality behind crossing out the word disability. For so long people have been fearful of this word. We created euphamisms to use instead of disabled and disability, like differently abled, special needs, etc. It really conveys the past negative connotations of the word, while using it in a new proud way. I appreaciate this!

  2. I really love how you use crossing out disability in this very powerful poem. I think crossing race and disability is a very real thing and especially in our society where race can be the only thing that people think about when interacting with just people. I also love your use of ability to counter disability at the end of your poem and I really think it ties up this amazing poem very nicely!

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