And the Little Black Girl in Glasses Says “I’m a Bad B***h, You Can’t Kill Me”

By Dakotah Jennifer

And the little black girl in glasses says, I’m a bad bitch, you can’t kill me, and all of the black women riot— shake in their skulls, pray to the goddess of unforgiveness. When the black girl, unafraid of being, with a sword to her face, finally says something, every black woman that couldn’t speak, that couldn’t die, that would never be forgotten, takes a bow, applauds the girl who claimed her inheritance, sits on a throne once again.

When the boy, safe behind his camera, sword in hand, attempts to make a guilty voyeur out of us all, it is the girl, the black, the might, that does not fall, will not fall, will not be made into a memory. It is her radiant defiance in such a moment, her quick wit, her unmet bravery, that shines through every black woman who ever knew she was unkillable. It is this clip, surely a laughing stock for those who do not understand, surely a reaction, a gif, a meme to those who want to claim the light. But no, it will never fit them, they will never understand its weight, its prophecy. And sure, she is a girl, it is a turbulent home, a terrible sight to study, but then, of course, isn’t it always? Is this video a snapshot? An enactment of the truth, proof that our skin will always revolt in such a way? Black girls, black women, are there, in those six seconds, silent, waiting, invisibly unleashed, always present and living, fighting to be alive.

So when the black girl says, in a moment’s threat, you can’t kill me, we know exactly what she means.

—

About Dakotah Jennifer

Jennifer is a nineteen-year-old black writer currently attending Washington University in St. Louis. She started writing poetry at eight and has loved writing ever since. Jennifer has been published in Protean Mag, Apartment Poetry, Paintbucket.page, the Grief Diaries, The Confessionnalist Zine, and Ripple Zine. She won Washington University's Harriet Schwenk Kluver award for the 2018-2019 year and a 2018 Scholastic Gold Medal for her personal essay “A Murder”. Her first chapbook, Fog, was recently published by Bloof Books, and her next chapbook/zine, Safe Passage, was recently released with Radical Paper Press.