Dear John Kelly by Leslé Honoré

Dear John Kelly


What surprised you more
That black people know
a black congresswoman
Intimately enough
To call her family
Or that a black congresswoman
Supports a black family enough
To be right by their side
To wipe tears
Hold hands
Pray
Or that a grieving black widow
Would put trump on speaker
Being a gold star family
Doesn’t erase Bigotry
Doesn’t erase Boston
Pre integration
From your DNA
We know where you come from
What molded you
There are thousands of men and women
Who died fighting for their country
Who would also call Congresswoman Wilson
A nigger in a heartbeat
You just called her an empty barrel
Instead
Called her everything but her name
And then questioned why a phone conversation
With an admitted sexual abuser
Wasn’t sacred

Frederica Wilson is far from empty
Do you understand the boldness it takes
To aspire to what you have never seen
To walk through life
Being told you are nothing
And still rise
From Teacher
To Principal
To Mentor
To Congresswoman

She is as bold as the hats on her head
The only thing bolder is
The hate in your soul

How dare we Black Women
Support each other
Stand in the gaps
How dare we have our own Elders
How dare we have comfort when we grieve

You said there was a time
when things were
Sacred
When Women were sacred
When have Black Women
ever been
Sacred here ?

We have only been sacred to
Each other

That empty barrel is full of more ammunition
Than your wildest dream
You wear stars on your lapel
She wears stars on her hats
In her eyes
In the blood in her veins

What is more disgusting
The idiot who calls a widow
And offers no words of comfort
Or the coward who defends him

by Leslé Honoré