Monday, December 23, 2013

What is being strong?

According to webster's dictionary the word strong means to be able to withstand great force or pressure. Most interprid this to mean the physical aspect of being strong; the great force being a weight. However, in my mind I see the great force or pressure being life situations. A weight that can sometimes seem greater than any amount of physical weight. What are your views? What makes one strong?
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4 comments:

  1. Brianna DennisDecember 23, 2013 at 2:51 PM

    I asked myself this very same question a few years ago and I answered myself with a poem I titled "Strong"

    Strong black woman am I

    But not because of the size of my thighs,

    the curve of my butt

    or the enormity of my breast

    But because of the pain that hides behind my eyes.

    because of the wear and tear on my mind

    because of the power that lies deep inside

    I feel pain

    I feel the pain of family gone away and those that seem to stay

    The pain of my mother, my grandmother, and all the other women that came before

    The pain of the little slave girl, that could call master “daddy” but dare not for fear of her life

    The pain of the whip on my back, driving me harder with every “crack”

    But still, I do not collapse

    I feel the pain of my generation and the pain of yours

    My mind

    My mind is like a battle ground

    War torn and blood soaked

    The constant struggle over who I am never ends

    Am I what the media says I am

    Am I what my momma wants me to be

    Am I too preppy to be black

    Am I too black to be white

    Am I suppose to be better to you, than I am to me

    Am I just an extension of you

    and if so

    why do I feel so far removed

    Am I black

    Am I white

    Am I a lady

    Am I a woman

    Am I a child

    Am I an Adult

    In this battle of my mind, answers lead to questions and the questions never subside

    Strong black woman am I

    because of the pain, because of the battle, because of the inner power

    I draw power from my strong thighs, they support the weight of you and I

    I take pride in the fact that I need no seat cushion, I was built to survive without

    My breast provide life's nutrients for the next generations to come

    The pain I feel gives me reason enough to make it to tomorrow

    The battle I fight within my mind, provides answers that otherwise I would never find

    There is power within a strong black woman

    A power passed from generation to generation

    A power which helps us to survive

    A power that others could never find or define

    A power that makes strong men cry and weak men weep

    Strong black woman am I, Strong black women are we.

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