The Black Flamingo

by Dean Atta

Phoebe is not the Barbie I wanted but she’s the Barbie I’ve got, and I decide to take care of her.

Don’t let anyone tell you that you are half black and half white. Half Cypriot and half Jamaican. You are a full human being. It’s never as simple as being half and half.

“Don’t worry, you can’t score every time but you still gotta take the shot.

why would my equal rights not travel with me?

“There’s always something. No matter how hard you work. No matter how well you do. How successful or respectable. There’s always something that will remind you you shouldn’t get too comfortable.

They interrupt our joy. Our history. Our progress.

“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

“We don’t have to know each other to show each other love.”

I come from a limited vocabulary but an unrestricted imagination.

Men are sandcastles made out of pebbles and the bucket is patriarchy: if you remove it, we fear we won’t be able to hold ourselves together, we pour in cement to fill the gaps to make ourselves concrete constructions.

To have a loving family is to feel afraid and yet believe you are going to be all right.

“He is me, who I have been, who I am, who I hope to become. Someone fabulous, wild, and strong. With or without a costume on.”

Correct those who say they knew before you did. That’s not how sexuality works, it’s yours to define.