
There must be black angels in heaven
There must be black angels in heaven
by Nkateko Masinga
at the souvenir shop downtown
i ask to buy a brown angel doll
for my baby niece
the shop assistant shrugs
as if to say there are no angels that look like me
or any of my people
i pull out a photograph and show her
my niece
looking like all the black angel women
who stitched her together with their own bones and blood
i put on my mother’s attitude and tell her
black dolls
black mannequins
black glass ballerinas
must exist
i imagine dying here
and instead of someone saying
look, a black angel
they will say
if she flies,
she must be a witch
i pray often
mostly to stay alive
but today i want to ask
if there are black angels in heaven
-a response to an article titled ‘there are no black angels in heaven’ by Lisa Sharon Harper

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One Comment
Franco De Blanco
Beautiful pierce, so warm yet revolutionary.
Your Poetry births ideas, a Tongue of Fire like the Ancient called.
Thank you for being such a strong voice, I am still marveled how you do it so gently & yet manage to HEAT THE NAIL BY IT’S HEAD?
IGAMA LAMAKHOSIKAZI MALIBONGWE.