Does it Define You?

Does it define you?
Your skin… your blackness, your beauty
Would you be the same without it?
A child who grew into his skin
Or do you derive strength and personality
from your identity, your category of humanness?
A category of identity that by definition defines you
Does your skin make you who you are?
Or is there a deeper spirit that transcends such worldly notions?
Would you be more comfortable wearing a different color?
Are you comfortable with your own?
Is comfort synonymous with definition?
Or is comfort with the familiar a way to hide from growth?
Does categorizing yourself limit your potential?
Or is knowing where you came from important?
They say if you know where you’ve been
Then you’ll know where you are going
To prevent history repeating its disastrous self.
But what did we learn? What did you learn?
To take voluntarily an identity that is not self determined
So tell me black man…
Do you live in a box of self determination?
Have you categorized your humanness?
Defined yourself by the paint on your skin?
Does it define you?
Your skin…. Your blackness, your beauty