Reclaiming Beauty

Which One Are You? 

Boy or girl?

Man or Woman?

He or she? Them is not a right singular pronoun. He or she which?

Lipstick and mustache? Never heard.

Trans masculine persxn with a “girl” name? Your name Jimmy still.

If you are trans, you goin to hell!

Wait.. You dun look like a man.. You too pretty to be a man

You can’t dress like a woman cuz God dun like ugly!

 

Why u askin us to choose what you deem suitable? Since when do you make the decisions for us? The last time I checked, you love us but spit on us. You drink with us while stabbin us in front. Our genitals ain’t your business but ours. Whatcha wrong wit cha? The reclamation of our physicality, names, gender identities, and everything is what makes us beautiful. You might call us an abomination cuz we defied nature by not embracing our assigned birth sex. Assigned, I say, by yall. Reclaiming beauty is a liberating declaration to self-define what is BEAUTIFUL inside and out. It is for us to express. We dun need none of that CisHet Body-normative European standardization mess. What is powerfully beautiful to us may be appalling to you. But that aint our problems. You can keep your Bibles, Politics, and whatever yall holdin and go. No need to hurt us cuz we ain't hurtin yall but challenging your humanity. For hundreds of years, Black folks were conditioned to believe and accept they are ugly. In order for us to raise up, we need to decolonize ourselves into a cishet body normative following the social gender expectations and norms. The more we defy it, the more beautiful we are and we're gonna claim it all - mic drop!

The First of His Kind by Mondo Vaden (Performing as Mondo Millions)

Video Description:

Mondo Millions, a lightly melanated Black Drag king with a fluffy fro, sings to the camera in a lush green outdoor setting. He is wearing a green and nude colored outfit made of leaves and flowers. He lipsyncs and uses sign. The video starts with a darker setting, cuts to a more lit view in the middle then ends with a view of Mondo eating an apple after tossing it in the air and taking a bite.

Video Transcript:

I caught it bad yesterday
You hit me with a call to your place
Ain't been out in a while anyway
Was hopin' I could catch you throwin' smiles in my face
Romantic talkin'? You don't even have to try
You're cute enough to fuck with me tonight
Lookin' at the table, all I see is weed and white
Baby, you livin' the life, but nigga, you ain't livin' right
Cocaine and drinkin' with your friends
You live in the dark, boy, I cannot pretend
I'm not fazed, only here to sin
If Eve ain't in your garden, you know that you can
Call me when you want, call me when you need
Call me in the morning, I'll be on the way
Call me when you want, call me when you need
Call me out by your name, I'll be on the way like
Mmm, mmm, mmm
Mmm, mmm, mmm
Ayy, ayy
I wanna sell what you're buyin'
I wanna feel on your ass in Hawaii
I want that jet lag from fuckin' and flyin'
Shoot a child in your mouth while I'm ridin'
Oh, oh, oh, why me?
A sign of the times every time that I speak
A dime and a nine, it was mine every week
What a time, an incline, God was shinin' on me
Now I can't leave
And now I'm actin' hella elite
Never want the niggas that's in my league
I wanna fuck the ones I envy, I envy
Cocaine and drinkin' with your friends
You live in the dark, boy, I cannot pretend
I'm not fazed, only here to sin
If Eve ain't in your garden, you know that you can
Call me when you want, call me when you need
Call me in the morning, I'll be on the way
Call me when you want, call me when you need
Call me out by your name, I'll be on the way like
Oh, call me by your name (mmm, mmm, mmm)
Tell me you love me in private
Call me by your name (mmm, mmm, mmm)
I do not care if you lyin'

Cleva by Ronnie Bradley

Video Description:

Black walls and chairs in the background. A Black Deaf man in drag came out of the curtain and got on the stage. She had a huge black afro, with a huge rose on her hair - just above her forehead. She had a light blue buttoned-up shirt with rolled sleeves, a dress made with blue jeans with red cloth. She started to sign the song.

Lyrics:

This is how I look without makeup
And with no bra my ninny's sag down low
My hair ain't never hung down to my shoulders
And it might not grow
Ya' never know
But I'm clever when I bust a rhyme
I'm cleva always on ya' mind
She's cleva and I really want to grow
But why come you're the last to know?
I got a little pot in my belly
So now a days my figure ain't so fly
My dress ain't cost nothin' but seven dollars
But I made it fly
And I'll tell ya why
But I'm clever when I bust a rhyme
I'm cleva always on ya' mind
She's cleva and I really want to grow
But why come I'm the last to know?
Alright, alright, alright
Alright, alright, alright
Alright, alright, alright
Alright, alright, alright yeah
Alright with me
Said that I'm alright with me
Said that I'm alright with me
Said that I'm alright with me
Said that I'm alright with me
Said that I'm alright with me