Bianca Swift Received a Standing Ovation at Verbal Gumbo for Her Poem About Juneteenth
On making Juneteenth a federal holiday for the white people who won’t celebrate it
By Bianca Swift
Now something ‘bout that ain’t seem so right, something bout that seems real white.
Ain’t it just like y’all to split something into fifths and take credit for most of it.
Like a body. Like this country.
To take a holiday on our behalf then name it justice, make some speech like you thought of it first.
God, if only you could hear the ancestors raging.
Sayin’ white folks ain’t never been on time. Like 2 years of slavery and millennia’s of racism too late.
Just for y'all to give white capitalists the day off.
Well thank you. Ain’t like all my family work minimum wage jobs in the ghettos you won’t drive through.
Only difference is now my aunt is bagging groceries while some middle aged white woman pats herself on the back for saying happy Juneteenth,
and that she’s just so glad they finally recognized our holiday and it’s just about time isn’t it?
In her opinion it should have been recognized, and thank God for good ol’ Joe, that white savior, that white lie. Fixes her mouth into a grin ‘cause she knows she’s solved racism;
ended it with her thin lipped smile and pitying head nod.
And she goes back to her self-care day-meanwhile my aunt is on her third 8 hour shift.
Some would say they’re working her to death.
Some would say she ain’t get paid enough for all the grief they put her through.
Some would say this looks familiar.
Some would say she's slaving away.
Not you though, cuz you’re spending a relaxing day in the sun. saying it’s about time they finally gave you a break.
Nah, see, see I think maybe for Juneteenth you keep going to work. In fact maybe you stay there longer, maybe without pay,
maybe without breaks now wouldn’t that be real justice?
Wouldn’t that be this equality y’all tweet about but don’t show up to march for.
Like you don’t even know what this holiday means to us. Don’t know how black bodies look when you’re not around.
How bout, how bout. You cain’t celebrate Juneteenth unless you can cook featherbones like my daddy.
Like, You ain’t invited to the cookout unless your uncle pulls up to it in a 1986 Cadillac Fleetwood;
Biggie and or Tupac blastin out of his tricked out speakers- bluetooth headset in one ear and adidas track suit pressed fresh for the function.
And you cain’t wish me a happy Juneteenth unless you have a cousin in a step club or an aunt whose a delta.
You caint wish me a happy Juneteenth if you can tell me your family history without crying.
You caint wish me happy Juneteenth because I know you found out about it last year, know it felt like something cool and hip and woke enough to cheer about.
You caint wish me a happy Juneteenth because it sounds like gentrification coming from your lips.
Sounds like white women with pit bulls and men who shorten my fathers name like it is theirs to mangle.
You caint wish me a happy Juneteenth- you can’t keep taking the things we call ours because you think they’re interesting to look at.
This is our holiday. Our history. Our pain transposed into celebration for one day.
Our bodies, unapologetic and unbroken and un-killed and that is what we celebrate.
We are dancing around a funeral pyre of death and anger and grief,
and you don’t get to stick That in your social calendar.
You don’t get to bleed us dry anymore.
So to the black people-
I wish your ancestors a peaceful sleep and you a long long life
So to the black people-
I wish you a blackness unburdened.
So to the black people-
and to the black people only
I wish you a happy Juneteenth.
Bianca Swift
is a 23-year-old African American Omaha native who has been writing poetry for nearly 10 years, (but only well for five). She has a degree in English with minors in French and African American Studies and is currently working towards her master’s. Bianca has performed in countless competitions in Philadelphia and Houston for the College Union Slam Poetry Invitational (CUPSI), as well as many local stages in her hometown such as the MAHA music festival. She works for the Nebraska Writer’s Collective as an ERG Director and Core Teaching Artist. She also works as a graduate researcher on the Charles Chesnutt Archive.
