I Am An Endangered Species

Hey, y’all! Did you catch Sheryl Lee Ralph’s now-viral Emmy speech? If you didn’t, here it is:

I get goosebumps just thinking of her speech. Ms. Sheryl Lee Ralph has been inspiring to me for a long time. Back in 2006, on the opening night of the play, The Amen Corner (my first acting performance), director Dr. Walter Dallas (AKA Dr. D) stopped me before I headed to the dressing room. The exchange went something like this:

Dr. D: “I was telling my friend about you.”

Me: “Oh, really?”

Dr. D: “Mm-hmm. You know Sheryl Lee Ralph?”

Me: “Um…yeah!”

Dr. D: “I was telling her about my Sister Boxer and how fierce you are. She told me to tell you to break a leg tonight.”

Me: Stunned silence

Ms. Ralph’s singing of Dianne Reeves’ song, “Endangered Species,” along with her rousing speech inspired me to write a poem inspired by my experience as a Black woman artistic leader. Here it is:

I AM AN ENDANGERED SPECIES
By Farah Lawal Harris

I am an endangered species.
To be Black and woman
and strong and sensitive
and inspired while inspiring
is an incredible feat.
I need to rest my tired feet,
but I’m too busy filling up the one seat
at a long-ass table.
Why I always gotta be the one to speak?

”Why is it just me here?”
”Who else did y’all ask to be here?”

Let me be clear—
I don’t take my position for granted.
I just wish strength and tact,
tight smile and straight back and bitten tongue
weren’t requirements for entry.
I wish there were a safe place—
safe for real,
not because someone with more power than me
declared it to be—
a safe place to rest my tired feet,
and take out my bleeding heart
to let it air out for a little while.
I don’t want to be an endangered species,
but high up here in this career,
no one looks like me,
no one thinks like me,
and on the off chance there happens to be,
eventually, the environment
forces one of us to leave.
I am an endangered species.
I wonder if they see me
or a check marked off for diversity.

I am an endangered species,
hanging on because I belong,
surviving despite history,
thriving off the strength my ancestors
bestowed upon me.
When I close my eyes, I hear them sing
the songs of victors.
One day I will join them:
when I no longer walk this earth,
long will be my legacy.
Do you know
they’ll speak of me and marvel?
Study my survival because
to be Black and woman
and strong and sensitive
and inspired while inspiring
is an incredible feat.