love comes and goes
vivacious because they stamped me
told me to die
I laughed louder
Grew stronger
inside
audience’s address
points towards home

During the Official Black History Month (cuz face it, every month deserves Black History) and beyond, this blog will honor people who demonstrated critical elements of the Black / African experience with commemorative poems. This poem pays homage to Eartha Kitt, dazzling entertainer and magnificent personality. As a child of an enslaved woman and plantation manager, Eartha endured severe abuse due to her mixed race, light-skin, and parentage, finally relocating to live with her aunt in New York. There she blossomed as a performer and found her big break as Orson Welles’ Helen of Troy, who described her as “the most exciting woman on Earth.’