By Mia Maisha
PROMPT—Privilege ...
Some black people dream of being the first ones in their families to go to college,
We dream of being the first ones in our families to keep a partner.
Love is starting to feel like the bench our ancestors couldn’t sit on.
Like the bus they couldn’t ride.
The schools they couldn’t go to,
The jobs they couldn’t get.
Love, like everything else,
is starting to feel like a privilege.
And to get it,
Like anything else when you’re black,
You have to work hard.
We talk about finding love like we talk about getting rich—
To prove white people wrong.
To make our ancestors proud.
They have never seen us in Rolls Royces / stable relationships.
When we say we want to be part of the 1%, we mean we want to be part of the black people in this country who are loved.
When we say we want to be like the Obamas, we mean we want a love that lasts.
Mia Maisha is a 20-year-old university student studying law at Stellenbosch University in Cape Town, South Africa, though she is originally from the D.R.C. Her work mainly centers around the daily struggle black people have to endure in the face of black oppression and discrimination. Mia writes from Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.