Through a conversation in one of my favorite Natural hair groups on Facebook, this post was mentioned. After I read it I just had to share. It was one of the most beautiful posts I’ve ever read about the encounter and afterthought of a black man seeing a black woman.
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“Once in an elevator I spotted a young lady. I was on my way to work
and she was on her way to who knows where. At that moment, to quote The
Godfather (one of my favorite movies), I was hit by the “thunderbolt”.
Visually stunned, I took in her beauty. Her skin was a deep chocolate,
her hair a kinky mass of velvet black, her teeth white like new Easter
Sunday shoes. I think everyone in the elevator noticed my dazed glare.
She looked at me in a questioning manner. Almost as if by some
compulsion I blurted, “You’re so beautiful.” She smiled and appeared
shocked. I think everyone including me was shocked. She was not the kind
of girl who would understandably have men in such a state of adolescent
panic. She was not some modelesque type with the generally accepted wow
factor.
I can only do my best to describe what I felt at that moment. It makes
no sense at all that I would feel that way about a total stranger. In
five minutes of her presence I thought of things that hadn’t crossed my
mind in all the years of my romantic relationships. I saw in her a wife,
the mother of my children, the keeper of my house, and the comforter of
my soul. She was like a vessel that swept me away to a place that I
have never been, but had always been looking for. Home!
I pondered the entire day on what had happened inside of me. The
misery I felt as she exited the elevator. What was it about this woman
that had unraveled me so easily? It came to me suddenly that I loved her
blackness. Every detail of her was unapologetically and beautifully
black. Every part of me understood and appreciated every part of her. It
was as if I had been living in a strange country my entire life and
unexpectedly met someone from my homeland. This was in fact my first
taste of Black Love.
The very nature of a black man is to love a black woman. I’ve come to
realize it after that experience. He can love any woman, but not to the
degree he can love a black woman. I state this with no reservation and
remorse for those it might offend. For that brief moment I loved her
hair, because it was the very hair that grew out of my own head. I loved
her skin, because it was the same skin that covered my flesh. I saw her
as the mother of my children, because I knew when I looked at their
faces I wouldn’t be able to see my half or hers. I would only see us. At
that moment I loved myself more because I was looking at everything
that makes me amazing. I could never love a woman of another race that
way.
Black men through history have tried to embrace their blackness
through various means. They have marched, grown locks, and changed their
last names to “X”. In my opinion, none of these actions hold a candle
to the self-love he could achieve through loving a black woman. That
truly is the most revolutionary act. It rages against everything this
oppressive society has taught us. Loving a black woman in a society
where she is rejected and devalued by European standards of beauty is
the ultimate rebellion and reclamation of one’s self. To find her
beautiful is to realize the true beauty in yourself and to boldly attest
it to all. The act of Black Love erases all the injustices and
imbalances that have shaped the black experience in this country. It’s
the coming home for men who were once sold away repeatedly. It’s the
validation and healing for women who were once treated as sexual objects
for breeding and entertainment. No other union can achieve this.
All love is great! Feel free to love whoever you want, however you
want. From this black man to all black men and women, I say BLACK LOVE
IS THE BEST. We all can love ourselves by ourselves. Black love is the
only way to be able to love and understand yourself, through someone
else. It’s the best way to love our people in an apparent and passionate
manner. This world constantly beats us down for who we are. Black men,
the act of loving a black woman is the most violent resistance possible.
Black women, the act of loving a black man is the most beautifying
process you can undergo. So let’s love each other….”till the end of
time.”
About the Author: Mike Phil of Miami. I’m a liberal, post racial,
Agnostic, pro-feminist. I believe common sense is a refusal to
individually reason. If legally permitted I would be a proactive
Darwinist.
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This was from The Black Man Can Blog, entitled: His Story: Falling BLACK in Love…
So, what did you think? I’d love to know. It’s no secret I’ve fallen in love with this piece and this site.
Black love is so beautiful Naturals,
Sabrina
That was beautiful!!! I felt his love!!!!
I did also.
I agree with the his expression of his feelings, however I disagree with the agnosticism… There is no greater love…I will not deny that one can love another race, however, The Black Man was created for the Black Woman…. I do not speak this from a place of prejudice but truth…. Unless he faces that fact, he will forever be unfulfilled and incomplete… Black Woman often have a bad rep I believe due to the pains, disappointments and the hurts endured…. Our Men have skirted the responsibility of shouldering the burden of each of these true emotions and often resort to a watered down version of a woman as an escape… I pray that God strengthen our Men to be the Head that God created them to be so that we can find rest for our souls and our spirits in THEM not in a line for a handout or in drugs or the the clubs…. We need our Black Men to cover us…Truly some of us are living the coldest winter ever… Help
Thank you for your comments.