IN OUR OWN VOICES
                 
  

I am Ntozake Shange.
 I named myself in the African language called Zulu.
 Ntozake: "She who comes with her own things."
 I am prepared self-reliant independent.
 Shange: "She who walks with lions."
 I have great courage strength wisdom.
 When I was a child, I had exciting adventures.
 I traveled to many places.
 Mexico Haiti Cuba Europe.
 I listened to music
 Read books
 Watched dancers
 Argued with scholars.
 Now, I am a woman with many talents.
 I create poems, stories, plays, characters, dances.
 I create poems about Black women which help us grow strong.
 I create stories about Black women which make our daydreams as real as life.
 I create plays about Black women
 which tell histories of our pleasure and pain
 struggle and triumph
 joy and anger
 fear and strength.
 I create dances about Black women
 whose rhythms remind us of our African roots.
 When I create poems, stories, plays, characters and dances
 Hear the voices of
 Black women.
 See the beauty of
 Black women.
 Taste the sweat of
 Black women.
 Feel the strength of    
 Black women.