This weekend, my family held a surprise birthday party for my sister and me. They shared so many beautiful stories of our friendship and our crazy antics. Today my sister completes her 33rd revolution around the sun.  My sister was my first friend and first role model. She is a beautiful woman who is diligent in serving God and her community. My dad used the metaphor of seeds and flowers to describe our maturation and I think it is perfectly fitting seeing how we are both avid gardeners now.  I am so proud of the woman that she has become and who she is growing to be.

In celebration of her beautiful new year, I wanted to share one of our favorite poems. The poem comes from Songs of A Sistermom: Motherhood Poems by Charisse Carney-Nunes. We first heard this poem at a book reading by the author with our mother. This was one of our last outings as mother-daughter time, so it’s even more special. The poem is meant to be sung…so go ahead and sing to your own tune.

NAPPY

Little girl…
Our hair is…

…super-napturally NAPPY
…super-abundantly NAPPY
…super-eminently NAPPY

Our hair is…
…”break the comb” NAPPY
…”run out the chair” NAPPY
…”scalp just caint bear” NAPPY

Our hair is…
…”left-hand turn” NAPPY
…”scream for a perm” NAPPY
…”perm ’til you burn” NAPPY

Our hair is…

Pull      ouch
Twist   ouch
Turn     ouch
Kink     ouch
Coil      ouch
Snap    ouch
Crack   ouch
Pop       ouch
NAPPY!!

But girl, God didn’t give us nothin’ we couldn’t handle.

It’s “back of the bus” NAPPY
It’s “Underground Railroad” NAPPY
“Ain’t I a Woman” NAPPY
“Lay down with Massa” NAPPY
and bear his children NAPPY
Though misbegotten NAPPY
While pickin’ cotton NAPPY…

Our hair is…

Harriet Tubman
Sojourner Truth
Mary Mcleod
Rosa Parks
Ella Baker
Josephine Baker
Sharon Drakeford
Zora Neale Hurston
Ida B. Wells
Sonja Sanchez and
Angela Davis…

…NAPPY

‘Cause girl,

God didn’t give us nothin’ that we couldn’t handle.