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    BDANR
  • BDANR
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  • 07/28/2017
  • 237 Words
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  • 15 Comments
Poetry posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

Loving Fiercely: How I Resist - 1. Chapter 1: A Letter to My Son

A letter from a black father expressing his love and worries to his gay son.

Little man, I ain’t got the nerve to be telling you who you should and should not be. All my life, as a black man, I’ve been told what I’m supposed to be. The worst thing I could do to you is tell you the same, cuz then you wind up being someone you’re not. As long as you ain’t getting hurt, you can love however you want.

Little man, I know I don’t have to remind you of this, but you are a black man. You are gonna go through this world with folks using any reason not to love you body and soul. Loving blackness means loving a little deeper, hugging a little stronger, and holding a little tighter, something that only a few would be willing to do.

You can’t just accept any kind of love, cuz there will be folks who won’t love all of you. With being black and being gay, those cards are gonna be stacked against you. So you gotta love yourself real hard, son. Who you are is not an error in your design, but the manifestation of your spirit. Your auntie taught me a very important lesson: it is not my business to challenge the ways of the spirit. Let me tell you something: this is your spirit talking, and it’s saying that this is the man you are meant to be.

 

Love,

Dad

Thank you for reading. Please respond if you have any thoughts or feelings that come about from this piece.
Copyright © 2017 BDANR; All Rights Reserved.
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Poetry posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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AC Benus

AC Benus 36,062

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Wow, beautiful. The second paragraph hits me hard and makes me smile - why? Because although I qualify as 'a white guy,' I've never had one as a boyfriend or partner ;) So I can relate to the holding a little tighter very deeply. 

 

Thank you for posting this. 

Edited by AC Benus
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FormerMember4

This is one that pulls at my heartstrings. It's told with love, honesty, and acceptance.

 It also breaks my heart. I have 2 bi-racial cousins. Knowing how different our life experiences are, it's a bitter pill.

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BDANR
17 hours ago, AC Benus said:

Wow, beautiful. The second paragraph hits me hard and makes me smile - why? Because although I qualify as 'a white guy,' I've never had one as a boyfriend or partner ;) So I can relate to the holding a little tighter very deeply. 

 

Thank you for posting this. 

You're welcome and thank you for the reply! 

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BDANR
14 hours ago, BlindAmbition said:

This is one that pulls at my heartstrings. It's told with love, honesty, and acceptance.

 It also breaks my heart. I have 2 bi-racial cousins. Knowing how different our life experiences are, it's a bitter pill.

Yes, it's interesting how one's racial identity(ies) could alter how one moves through the world. I'm hoping my other pieces will shed light on this as well. Thank you for the reply!

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BDANR
8 hours ago, R J Drew said:

This is beautiful and heartfelt. 

 Thank you RJ Drew :)!

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Parker Owens

This is beautiful and powerful. The voice of the father is one I can hear, know its timbre and quality. It is full of love from beginning to end. 

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BDANR
5 hours ago, Parker Owens said:

This is beautiful and powerful. The voice of the father is one I can hear, know its timbre and quality. It is full of love from beginning to end. 

Thank you Parker :)!

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Mikiesboy

I'm a white, ex street kid/whore  what ever label you choose. Rent boy is too pretty a term. I can put myself here in your letter to a certain extent. I'm very familiar with being hated because of what i was. Met all kinds while i lived in that life. Frankly didn't see all that much difference between us. And why we can't just accept each other, i still dont get. 

 

nice piece 

 

tim

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BDANR
1 hour ago, Mikiesboy said:

I'm a white, ex street kid/whore  what ever label you choose. Rent boy is too pretty a term. I can put myself here in your letter to a certain extent. I'm very familiar with being hated because of what i was. Met all kinds while i lived in that life. Frankly didn't see all that much difference between us. And why we can't just accept each other, i still dont get. 

 

nice piece 

 

tim

Thank you for your words, Tim. I read some of your work prior to reading your comment. It's dumbfounding and it still blows my mind what we as human beings do to one another for simply existing. It's unfortunate and I wish things were different.

 

Your comment reminded me of a quote from Zora Neale Hurston, "Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It's beyond me."

 

Thank you for reading :).

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Mikiesboy
3 minutes ago, BDANR said:

Thank you for your words, Tim. I read some of your work prior to reading your comment. It's dumbfounding and it still blows my mind what we as human beings do to one another for simply existing. It's unfortunate and I wish things were different.

 

Your comment reminded me of a quote from Zora Neale Hurston, "Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It's beyond me."

 

Thank you for reading :).

We are making it different ...slowly. It's why i just talk about my past. i'm not ashamed of what i was. no one should be ashamed of who we are, some of us should be very ashamed of our actions however. 

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Defiance19

This is beautiful and meaningful.. I remind my son a lot of what's  said in this piece regularly, because of the fact that our family is literally representative of the United Nations. We forget sometimes that acceptance is not a given and some people still don't see much beyond their own bigotry.  Such is the world we live in. 

 

Im glad to have read this. 

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BDANR
5 hours ago, Defiance19 said:

This is beautiful and meaningful.. I remind my son a lot of what's  said in this piece regularly, because of the fact that our family is literally representative of the United Nations. We forget sometimes that acceptance is not a given and some people still don't see much beyond their own bigotry.  Such is the world we live in. 

 

Im glad to have read this. 

Thank you Defiance19! It really means a lot to hear that you are glad to have read this :). 

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JeffreyL

This is a very thoughtful and thought provoking letter. You did an amazing job saying so much in such a few words! Thanks.

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