She has no time to cry
She wipes her tears of blood
As she carries her playing child
She has to do what she has to do
Even when she’s with child
She always sacrifices
She puts her happiness second
She wants to live and laugh
She wants to be embraced
She wants to be understood
But even without
She still thrives
Because she always sacrifices
She sharpens her arrows
With the tears of her blood
As a rose, delicate and beautiful
Yet with thorns so sharp
She holds her secret portion
As she protects her young
Only her can know
The power of sacrifice
BLACK SACRIFICE
When I was pregnant with my 6th baby Chaka, at one point I was so tired and felt overwhelmed. My daughter Charo walked into the room and I had a moment with her. She ministered to me so powerfully, like saying, “mummy you can do this”.. I was desperate to express myself at that moment, how I was feeling. There was a pen and paper next to me, and I sketched myself. Then it felt so powerful I started to paint what I had felt. I painted for a few weeks, then I stopped. I put the painting away, uncompleted. A few weeks later I gave birth to Chaka.
I knew I had to finish the painting, but lacked strength and motivation. Until the recent Serena Williams ‘meltdown’. I was so touched by her pain, even as the world’s greatest, she still remains a black woman, who has to constantly sacrifice to remain at the top. So I was inspired to finish the painting, and I saw not just me in the painting, but Serena Williams too, for she inspires me so much.
We all need each other as sisters, in this journey of being Black. It’s a sacrifice.
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