Indigenous / Black Experience / Feminist

Kourtni McNeil
Cognitive Science | Creative Writing
Class of 2021

This poem is my love letter to every woman in my life who has ever held out a hand for me to grab onto. It is my ode to all of the women I have not met who have paved the way for me and continue to work towards creating a more kind and equitable future. As a Black woman at Northwestern, I have found community with so many amazing women who have uplifted and motivated me. I wanted to use this poem as a moment to uplift them in turn.

One of my favorite things about poetry is the way it brings people together. Poems offer us the opportunity to enter someone else’s perspective and to try to understand their experiences. When presented with that opportunity, I believe that one of the most powerful things we can do is listen. If we all take more moments to appreciate the people in our lives, listen to each other’s stories, and approach others with open hearts and open minds, we have already opened so many doors for change.

Young Woman, I Want You to Know

There is nothing wrong with you.
Even if it seems that every time
You reach out to grab something
It slips through the spaces in your hands.

I want you to know that every gap
Can be closed. And every door you knock on
May not open for you, may force you
To bloody your knuckles before giving
Even an inch, but I want you to know
You are stronger than any wood, steel,
Or strongarm.

I want you to know it like you know
Your worth. Which is everything.
Know it like you know your pain
Which is a seed you can grow from.

If they want to call you a flower, that’s fine.
Make sure they know you are the thorny kind.
That your beauty has bloomed from the ground
And you are not afraid of the earth that birthed you.
That even in the harshest conditions
You will grow.

I want you to know that you are allowed to be strong
Just as you are allowed to be fragile. You are allowed
To stand and allowed to fall. You are allowed to give your all,
Allowed to scream, allowed to dream. You are allowed
To speak. To seek your happiness, whatever it is.
You are allowed to live. With no one’s permission
But your own.

Young woman, I want you to know
What so many will refuse to teach you,
And that is how spectacular you are.
Know it like you know your name.
Know it like one day you will say it to your daughter,
And she will say it to hers.
Know it even when the people around you refuse to.

Dear woman, know you do not have to be the glue.
You do not have to be the breaking back.
You do not have to lift up everyone around you
And let yourself sink under the weight.

When they tell you to wait your turn tell them
Your turn is and always has been right now.
Tell them you will stand your ground.
You will knock every door down,
And every room you enter will know
When you’ve arrived.