i was born in a place where we only saw two colors,

those colors were white and black.

i was born in a place where history was only taught,

from a white book,

where the world was paper-thin.

Where history was only two dimensional,

where only white men had agency,

where only white men made history.

i was born in a time where we watched Westerns,

where the white settlers or calvary,

were doing right by massacring first nation people,

both men, women, children, and infants.

It would be decades before I learned the term first nations.

There was no black in my life other than images on a screen.

It would be years before I knew someone who was not white.

I was born in a twisted and malformed world!

A world were you were taught 2+2 was 4;

but not cuatro, or أربعة or nne, or even ceathrar.

At some point, my foot and then I, fell through that paper-thin world.

I, like Dorothy, found a beautiful technicolor world;

of life, food, love, experience, and taste and oh so many glorious tastes,

and stories,

and lives,

and vibrancy,

and pathos and sorrow,

and JOY!

Let alone agency and power!

It’s amazing that I grew up in the shadow of the company,

that made Kodachrome,

but yet it took me decades to live in a Kodachrome world.

Today at the Doctors the receptionist was having a hard time getting the computer to print,

She made a comment about oh you know women,

I answered, Yes I know women are strong, and vibrant, and heroes and the foundation of this country.

She started to cry and later thanked me.

After I thought what system do we live in that a random stranger has to tell you a truth that is so,

true.

Yet the fact is,

the fact is,

that I myself, besides having strong women in my life,

did not know that about women,

until I could see more than white and black.

It’s a beautiful world,

Come see it with me.

© words by Daniel DeMarle 5/13/21