Artwork by Verlena L. Johnson
A Poem to My Black Teenage Son
By Verlena L. Johnson
Your voice is just beginning to deepen
and your body is getting both taller and broader.
Your neck that I once cupped in the palm of my hand
so that your head didn’t jerk back and forth
is now linebacker wide
as you dab it with cologne and confidence.
Your hands that I once held
and marveled at
for being so little and perfect
are now bigger than mine.
The distance across your palm
is as expansive as the aching in my heart
because I cannot protect you from being dehumanized.
Each time you are called “nigger”
I can see the light dim in your eyes.
When you said
“Mom, I don’t want them to think I am a monster”
my heart shattered into a thousand pieces
and the shards stuck in my throat
cutting off my airway.
Your shoulders that were once rounded and supple
are now broad and square.
I HOPE that they will be strong enough
to bear the weight of hundreds of years
of oppression and the assumptions
of people who see you as a threat
because you are a tall dark-skinned Black boy (not yet a man).
You are in that in-between stage.
You are not an adult and not quite a child.
And still you think, like all teenagers do,
That you know EVERY/THING.
What I NEED for you to know is
that you are valuable
That you are worthy
That you are enough
That you are Smart
That you are brave
That you are beautiful
That you, my son, are divine!
AND NOT A NIGGER!
BIO
Verlena L. Johnson was born in Chicago and grew up in Madison and Beloit Wisconsin. She earned a B.A. in Sculpture and a M.A. in Afro-American Studies with an emphasis in Art History from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and a M.F.A. in Sculpture from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Verlena has also studied wood carving with Ghanaian Master Wood-carvers, as well as, at the Haystack Mountain School of Craft and Penland School of Craft.
She has exhibited her artwork in Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Oakland, amongst other places. Her artwork has appeared on the cover of the book Approaches to Teaching the Novels of Toni Morrison and the journal Sinister Wisdom. She has taught studio art and art history to children and adults in community centers and colleges.
Her children’s book, The Adventures of Kai and the Magical Machines was published in 2018. Verlena’s current book project is a children’s picture book about a little boy named Jimmie in rural Mississippi in the 1940s. Website: https://www.verlenajohnson.com/
Purchase Verlena L. Johnson's artwork: https://www.redbubble.com/people/verlenajohnson/shop
Listen to SOREN LIT's interview with Verlena Johnson:
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