Abstract:
This thesis attempts to distill my experience as a bi-racial, bi-ethnic woman. At the same
time these poems explore what it means to be black in contemporary America today. The
poems explore themes of rage, injustice, joy and even love.
Using plain yet subtle lyrics, I discuss my relationship to the story of my birth, a story I once
thought irreparably split. Now having traversed modern explanations of race, these poems
chart new growth, new narratives of “wholeness.” All in all, the collection moves from
“biological background” in section one, to “conceptual challenge,” in section two, to
“emotional freedom” in section three. In total, I argue that the complicated stories of our
births need not define the myriad ways we navigate identity, gender, and even physical
appearance. For me, this collection is one of intellectual and emotional healing.
