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