A Black Girl's Country Poem and Full Credits

 

What do you know of a Black girl’s country?
Where the faucets bleed oceans
so we bathe in God and pray to our own reflections.

A Black girl’s country:
where the sky is an indigo quilt
hemmed and sewn by our grandmother’s tired hands.
And we talk with language in our hands,
and trumpets in our throats,
shamelessly loud
shouting our names into an eternal echo.
And we smile.
We smile and the sun bows to us.
And with moonlit teeth and dimples deeper than Egyptian blood, we laugh.
And every Black girl’s laugh is an anthem,
a Nina, a Billie, a blues; a soft hum hissing,
honey kissing baby hairs.
Every promise is a silk scarf tying itself into a crown.
And even our anger is so beautiful.

In a Black girl’s country,
an angry Black girl sounds like a thousand waterfalls
rushing towards us
to silence our storms,
to wash our feet when we are tired from dancing.

In a Black girl’s country,
breasts and bellies and hips are
kingdoms and temples and thrones.
And fatherhood is fresh fruit at sunrise.
Never fermented or beat; abused.
Mothers are becoming and born from soil,
holding us up and down,
opening our souls without fear.
Finally, we are here.
We are home.

Original Poetry Written and Performed by
NIA JUNE

Additional Vocals
Wifty Bangura

Director of Photography
Kirby Griffin

Director
NIA JUNE

Creative Director
APoetNamedNate

Producer
NIA JUNE

Editor
Kirby Griffin

Assistant Editors
NIA JUNE
APoetNamedNate

Musical Producer
APoetNamedNate

Mixing Engineer
Matt Davenport

Choreographers
NIA JUNE
Stephanie Powell
Kiana Eboné
Markita Savoy
Tybria Sowell

Cast (in order of appearance)
NIA JUNE
Kori Darden
Denelle Lynn Joynes
Emma Hugs
Mani Marino
Asia
Devin
Ashley Njagi
Ethel
Asia Kenney
Zadia
Tybria Sowell
Kyja Wilson
Asia’Nae Campbell
Quaisia Rodwell
Markita Savoy
Nina Hues
Z. Rose Zeon
Akilah Divine
Wifty Bangura
Clarke McKenzie Lyons
KéJa Telp
Tamara James
Jordan Dumas
Bethany Burnett
Keja Ferguson
Coral Linzey
Iman Fisher
Aris McKinney
Lakisha Ellis
Laila Reese Ellis
Jasmine Kayla Hall
Moriah P. Ray
Kontrah
Jade King
Justice King
Rhonda Dixon
Logan Alston
Najah
Indigo
Faith Couch
Ser Greene
Ciera Woods
Al Rogers Jr.
Mya Renea
Sunny B.
BobbiRush
CierraLione
Carissa Harrison
Ajeé S. Hassan
Fabian Bell
Valencia Clay
“Mama”
Jennifer Mccullers
Tasin M.

Thank you
Cortina and Jeremy Darden
Intentional Healing Space
Baltimore Dance Tech
Kiana Eboné Dance LLC
Booker T. Washington Middle School
4th Eye Diaries & Six Point Pictures
The people of Baltimore City

Dedicated to the Eternal Essence of
Linda Patricia Mackel
April 3, 1954 – June 6, 2019