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MERGE LITERARY MAGAZINE
I AM ERICA GARDNER!

By Josè Angel Figueroa

I am a woman of many lives
And great-granddaughter of
Those conceived by rape
 
Born on a cotton plantation
And forced to resist the
Trauma of oppression.
 
I am the strong backbone of
Sojourner Truth and defiant
Wings of Harriet Tubman.
 
We lost those lynched and
Hung from poplar trees
Of bodies left burnt crisp
In shallow graves.
 
Many protests and battles
Still pour from the scorn and
Brutalization of generations.
 
I am the arch and bond of
These immortal tears who
Survived turbulent times.
 
I am before and beyond
The chokehold cries of
Black Lives Matter.
 
I left this world how I lived it:
With an unapologetic will to
Defeat the relentless pain of
Chronic fatigue syndrome.
 
I am pure vintage Blackness
Screaming from the top of
My lungs for social justice!
 



  • HOME ISSUE #3
  • Mission and Content
  • About US
  • POETRY AND PROSE
  • BLACK MUSIC PHOTO ESSAY
  • ESSAYS ARTICLES AND FICTION
  • VISUAL ART GALLERY
  • BIOGRAPHIES
  • SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
  • Support Merge Literary Magazine
  • ISSUE #2 CELEBRATING BLACK WOMEN
  • FEATURED WRITERS AND ARTISTS
  • MERGE LITERARY MAGAZINE PRINT EDITION
  • Mission and Content
  • About US
  • POETRY
  • ESSAYS ARTICLES AND FICTION
  • Multimedia Art Review
  • PHOTOGRAPHY CELEBRATING BLACK WOMEN
  • ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
  • WRITERS AND ARTISTS BIOS
  • SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
  • ISSUE #1 POLITICAL AFFAIRS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
    • Mission and Content
    • About US
    • POETRY
    • PROSE
    • ART ILLUSTRATION
    • ESSAYS AND PLAY
    • MULTI-MEDIA QUILT REVIEW
    • WRITERS AND ARTISTS BIOS
    • SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
    • Support Merge Literary Magazine