Blood at the Root

by LaDarrion Williams

Black boys surely deserve stories filled with magic, wonder, and warm summer rain. Black boys deserve to have their origin stories. Black boys deserve to have the fullness of their power revered. They need to remember that they are magic, that “Blackness is magic.”

Let them spin magic from their fingers. Let them hold stars in their hair. Let Black boys be the alchemists in their stories. Let Black boys be seen. Let them be colored softly. Let them fall in love. Let them have adventures. And let Black boys be the heroes of their own stories.

Maybe there’s a reason why Black boys like me don’t have magic powers. Because no good ever comes from it.

Because the one thing I ain’t trynna do—what the world already tries with boys like us—is take his innocence away.

But little do they know, the world itself is hell.

“What makes you think I need help navigating my magic?” “Because I know what it’s like being afraid of something about yourself that you don’t understand.”

noted, Ms. Hall,” Dr. Akeylah says.

Tears fall down her cheeks. But there’s power in it.

’Cause even after something as messed up as last night, I’m still here writing book reports.

I think the scariest part for me is not even that night anymore. It’s me forgetting her. Memories really do fade over time. It’s me actually…moving on.”

Guess I’m privileged in that way as a straight dude. “Black men don’t get to be bisexual,” D Low said, addressing the audience. “We gotta be either gay or straight.

“I get it. The system’s broken—” “Nah. You don’t get it; this system is doin’ exactly what it was designed to do.”

A cardinal rule in the hood: when Black folks start running, you drop whatever the fuck you are doing and dip out that bitch without question.

it’s not the actual hurt that is the most painful. It’s the letting go.

we accept the love we think we deserve,

I just continue, ignoring her.

You are so annoying my guy. Hotheaded. Selfish. Stupid. Cant even trust your judgment at this point

Death is ya friend, nephew. It guides you to places that’s far better than here. Shit, death is only the beginnin’.”