America constantly questions the validity of the space that Black Americans occupy. When America enslaved us, the pressing dilemma was how to steal more of us from Africa to fill more space. There were unspeakable things done to my people. Things we now bring to the light for the world to understand the atrocities we faced on this land of the brave and the free.

Have I married an ancestor of one of my sons or daughters sold to another plantation? Will the world ever understand the mental genocide inflicted upon us? Much of America does not seem to care. They would rather keep the murderous attacks covered up. There are far too many stories that were whispered in the dark by families for fear if we spoke them in the light of day, death would follow.

America has challenged our black space from the moment we walked off slave ships! But in the cover of darkness, America violated the black space between our women’s legs, and sexually abused our men to prove a point. We have such a painful history and now we are choosing to challenge the world to recognize us. To respect us! There has always been more to us that the world wants to recognize.

We are not ornamental objects. We are more than the black space you negate! More than the black space you have such an inbred fear of us! America did not shape us. We changed the face of this country one field at a time. One invention at a time. One black child occupying space at a time. America has done horrible things in trying to shrink our black space!

Without Black America, America would not be such a powerful country. The world may recognize America for the many innovations created here, but I would ask the world to look at the origins of many of the inventions produced on this soil. It is time the world recognized that America would not be America if my people had not occupied their place in American history. Be thankful we have occupied black space, we have benefited the world!

Look closer and appreciate black space!