Nikki Rosa (It is Well)
By Nikki Giovanni
Truth is on Its Way
childhood remembrances are always a drag if you’re Black
you always remember things like living in Woodlawn with no inside toilet
and if you become famous or something they never talk about how happy you were to have your mother all to yourself
and how good the water felt when you got your bath from one of those big tubs that folk in chicago barbecue in
and somehow when you talk about home it never gets across how much you understood their feelings as the whole family attended meetings about Hollydale
and even though you remember your biographers never understand your father’s pain as he sells his stock and another dream goes
And though you’re poor it isn’t poverty that concerns you and though they fought a lot it isn’t your father’s drinking that makes any difference
but only that everybody is together and you and your sister have happy birthdays and very good Christmases
and I really hope no white person ever has cause to write about me because they never understand Black love is Black wealth
and they’ll probably talk about my hard childhood and never understand that all the while I was quite happy
By Nikki Giovanni
Truth is on Its Way
childhood remembrances are always a drag if you’re Black
you always remember things like living in Woodlawn with no inside toilet
and if you become famous or something they never talk about how happy you were to have your mother all to yourself
and how good the water felt when you got your bath from one of those big tubs that folk in chicago barbecue in
and somehow when you talk about home it never gets across how much you understood their feelings as the whole family attended meetings about Hollydale
and even though you remember your biographers never understand your father’s pain as he sells his stock and another dream goes
And though you’re poor it isn’t poverty that concerns you and though they fought a lot it isn’t your father’s drinking that makes any difference
but only that everybody is together and you and your sister have happy birthdays and very good Christmases
and I really hope no white person ever has cause to write about me because they never understand Black love is Black wealth
and they’ll probably talk about my hard childhood and never understand that all the while I was quite happy
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