high steppin' heels and rich deep notes worthy of Patti LaBelle
melanin rhymes, sharing good and bad times, ooh child, the stories they tell!
- Nikki Williams
Sistahs sing self-love into a rainbowed hued,
deep beiged, caramel mahoganized, mocha tanned, honey-dewed,
song of SELF-acceptance, as sweet as a Mahalia gospel song
"I see you girl," you and I are one, together, forever, we will always belong.
- Nikki Williams
"And a PraiseSong Shall Rise Over a Capella Skies" Video and Artwork By Nikki Williams Excerpts from an Exhibition in Retrospect Originally Shown at Ryan Health Adair in 2021 Curated by Mr. Brian St. Jean, Community Liaison, Ryan Health
Song: "Endangered Species" song by Ms. Dianne Reeves Written by Dianne Reeves and Jeanne Pisanno from the "Art & Survival" album Copyright 1994
Sistah, sing yo' Self a PraiseSong
and if you got to - sing it a Capella
dance barefoot in yo' reign without umbrella
Sistah sing yo' Self a lyric rainbow stretched
use Creation's Canvas to show your beauty sketched
across diaspora, your Melanin dipped into river and ocean
hum your hymns Sistah whenever you take notion
Sistah, yo' Sistahsong don't need no flute or no drum
God given, the Source where yo' exSiStence comes from
Self Love is its own Orchestra - a Soul contained Symphony
a Her/monizing expression burst and refrained in melodic epiphany.
- Nikki Williams
dE/FINE/anT
Remembering Where We Wommin BE From
We Be Wimmin From
God/Spelling out the Perfect I. A. M.
Soil Solid Soft Yam
From Sure footed Souljah Warriors who dared not to give a damn
And Wimmin finding Peace in the Presence of God's Lamb
Rocked securely in the Wisdom of their Ages...
defiant
defiant
The Wimmin We Be From
Dig deep into Purses and even deeper into hand sewn
pockets of unquestioned surrender
Spilling out "Change Gon' Come" - How sweet the Sound
Trusting that the same Mercy that Delivered Daniel will Bless
their spared coins saved from using soup bones in place of
the tenderest of loin
Dressed in the Poetic Style of Maya Angelou's Finery of Faith
Their subtle Beauty belying the Trouble's they've seen
Birch Brown hands pat rounded yellow soft cakes into the shape of their submitted Belief
Their foreheads shine and glisten like the Light of Salvation
Wearing passed along pearls that match their stockings, while standing like stalks unwilted, in the heat of a Church Kitchen Basement, they prepare $2.00 dinners - sold to help pay for much needed new choir robes
Thanking the God of their Understanding, for giving them the Grace to be both Saved and Stylish, for none know the day nor the hour that they will come face to face with their Jesus
The Joy in their eyes...
defiant
Be We Wimmin From
Cat calls and whispered whistles: Ooh Chile!
Why you makin' them men go wild?
I know inside you wearin' a smile
'Cause your Personal Power has turned up the dial
Was it your Mission to enchant and beguile?
Brothers be holdin' hands with their Ladies but in the meanwhile
They thinkin' 'bout the tear in your jeans while they mouth be movin' a Country Mile
You gonna cause a car collision - stack up vehicles into a pile
Behind your glasses your eyes move like a crocodile
Quietly you survey
Your Willing Prey
Hooking them on the curve of your feminine guile
Now, I ain't accusin' you of nothin' - ain't puttin' you on trial
Judge'll take one look at you and declare a mistrial
You know you representin' the Aura and Energy reminiscent of the Queen of the Nile
Your Rule, Your Throne - You ain't even thinkin' 'bout walkin' down no aisle
I ain't mad at'cha, not everyone can pull off your "Brotha Baitin' " Sense of Style!
- Nikki Williams
A Centuries old question
answered by Inner/Inspection
taught me a valuable life long lesson
What once was a painful trip
Judged by the width of my waist and expanse of my hips
Now has me floating upward and open - a Self Love Dip
Won't be defined by society's limited definition
of beauty; won't be placed, pigeon holed or positioned
in last place or no space; Hear Me, I am Woman Worded in Sojourner Truth Tradition:
"I have Worth, decreed by the Women AnSIStors who paid theirs AND my Dues
And no matter my color or size, I won't waste my whole life proving what I know to be true:
I'm turning my back on those who dare to decide who is or who ain't - Question Answered - Enough Said:
I AM A WOMAN TOO!"