I stand tall and brown skinned like the great iroko tree
My hair black like cooking charcoal and kinky
My teeth white and my lips thick and red like ripe cherries
My body voluptuous and supple.
I am beautiful
I am proud to be an African daughter.
My beautiful Africa, my motherland
Your beauty and riches takes my breath away.
I love to feel your rich soil with my fingers
As your cool breeze caresses my skin
And your rich produce gives me strength
As you suckle me.
My beautiful Africa
The land of my great father and fathers before
And also of mother and mothers before me.
I am proud to be a part of your beautiful offspring
This is where I belong, and here I will always dwell.
So, dear stranger,
Do not preach to me about the civilization you know nothing about.
Who says to be civilized, I have to be like someone else?
Does it make me primitive
Because I love to feel the soil of my motherland with my bare feet
Drink water from your pure chemical-free spring
Feel your rain upon my naked flesh
Stand upon your rocks as I worship my God
Swim in your streams
And bask in the warmth of your sun
As I grow strong and healthy?
Then I accept your ignorance, oh stranger.
Who are you,
Oh stranger,
O civilized one,
As you make an effort to make me who I am not?
Because you have done your best
To be who and what you are not.
A true daughter of Africa, I am.
And that is who I will always be,
An African daughter.
Author Bio:
"I am an old-fashioned woman who loves God, knowledge and documenting daily life, culture and women’s issues through words and pictures." Ooluss Louisa Ibhaze started writing at a very early age with her friends and sisters as my proofreaders. She loves the ability to create characters and make them do what she wants. Coming from a family with many women, growing up was fun as there was always something to gossip and argue about. Her writing is greatly influenced by spirituality, passion for African culture and tradition, gender and life experiences. If given the opportunity to come back to the world as an animal, she would come back as an eagle. She holds an Msc in Medical Sociology, a second Msc in Globalization and Development and a BSc in Sociology and Anthropology. She has one published novel, a number of magazine and online publications, and a blog. She also has online journals on the World Pulse Project, Naija Stories and African Writer. She has recently completed her first poetry collection titled "Winds Of My Sahara." When she is not writing, she indulges in her other passions, which are taking pictures and traveling.
My hair black like cooking charcoal and kinky
My teeth white and my lips thick and red like ripe cherries
My body voluptuous and supple.
I am beautiful
I am proud to be an African daughter.
My beautiful Africa, my motherland
Your beauty and riches takes my breath away.
I love to feel your rich soil with my fingers
As your cool breeze caresses my skin
And your rich produce gives me strength
As you suckle me.
My beautiful Africa
The land of my great father and fathers before
And also of mother and mothers before me.
I am proud to be a part of your beautiful offspring
This is where I belong, and here I will always dwell.
So, dear stranger,
Do not preach to me about the civilization you know nothing about.
Who says to be civilized, I have to be like someone else?
Does it make me primitive
Because I love to feel the soil of my motherland with my bare feet
Drink water from your pure chemical-free spring
Feel your rain upon my naked flesh
Stand upon your rocks as I worship my God
Swim in your streams
And bask in the warmth of your sun
As I grow strong and healthy?
Then I accept your ignorance, oh stranger.
Who are you,
Oh stranger,
O civilized one,
As you make an effort to make me who I am not?
Because you have done your best
To be who and what you are not.
A true daughter of Africa, I am.
And that is who I will always be,
An African daughter.
Author Bio:
"I am an old-fashioned woman who loves God, knowledge and documenting daily life, culture and women’s issues through words and pictures." Ooluss Louisa Ibhaze started writing at a very early age with her friends and sisters as my proofreaders. She loves the ability to create characters and make them do what she wants. Coming from a family with many women, growing up was fun as there was always something to gossip and argue about. Her writing is greatly influenced by spirituality, passion for African culture and tradition, gender and life experiences. If given the opportunity to come back to the world as an animal, she would come back as an eagle. She holds an Msc in Medical Sociology, a second Msc in Globalization and Development and a BSc in Sociology and Anthropology. She has one published novel, a number of magazine and online publications, and a blog. She also has online journals on the World Pulse Project, Naija Stories and African Writer. She has recently completed her first poetry collection titled "Winds Of My Sahara." When she is not writing, she indulges in her other passions, which are taking pictures and traveling.
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