☀ Today's Poem: "Reading Black Poems to White Audiences: A How-To Guide" Cameron Barnett

Part Ⅲ: The N-Word

"One should never say the N-word to a white audience." —Nobody

. . . Nigga, say nigga all the time
Say nigga to the left, and nigga to the right
Say nigga like you're playing Simon Says
and you can't move unless somebody says nigga
Say nigga to the old lady in the front like you're spilling some big secret
Say nigga to the old man in the back like you just spilled his big ass secret
Say nigga top to bottom like you patting down the audience
before you let them hear the rest of the poem
Say nigga like you're counting jumping jacks—one nigga, two nigga, three nigga, four . . .
Say it to the ceiling like you want the roof to hear it
and if the roof ain't listening say it to the floor
like you want your dead homie to hear it down below
Then say nigga as if your dead homie down there came back
and you only get one word to share with him
Say nigga till your bones get hot
Say nigga like you're making a bonfire
Say nigga like you're starting a fire
with nothing but the bones of dead homies
Say nigga like rain on a roof, the one that ain't listening
Say nigga to the twelve-year-old who ain't looking at you
'cause his phone is in the way and say nigga to his father
who's thinking twice about bringing his kid to your reading
And once you've said nigga to every white person in the room,
say nigga to the only other nigga there
the way you'd tell your mother you love her
And don't be alarmed when the well-meaning man in his seventies
says to you "your poems are good but I'm just tired of Black poets
making me feel bad about slavery and Jim Crow"
Remember, he's "well-meaning"—help him feel Jim Crow another way—
invite him up to the mic—help him feel slavery like he hasn't
felt it before—wrap the cord over his shoulders,
down his collar, loop it like a necktie and dangle it
by his mouth then say it with him—nigga—and if he hesitates
pull the cord tighter and say it with him—nigga—and if he stammers
loop the cord again and whisper in his ear—nigga—and if he squirms
pull the cord tighter till he says it, tighter still until he feels it
in his bones—nigga—and when he gets hot enough
start a fire, nigga