"I Wish I Dried Up"

 An excerpt from Upworthy - 

It's Black Breastfeeding Week. Wondering why? One gut-wrenching poem says it all.

"I wish I dried up..."

By Annie Reneau

It's Black Breastfeeding Week, a week set aside in the U.S. to celebrate and encourage Black breastfeeding parents.

Some may wonder why such a week is necessary. After all, that's a pretty narrow niche, isn't it? Aren't Black moms included in all breastfeeding awareness and education campaigns? Is there something special about Black people breastfeeding?

The answer is yes, there is something unique about Black breastfeeding. Several somethings, actually, but one reason for Black Breastfeeding Week is summed up in a gut-wrenching poem by feminist author Hess Love.

"I wish I dried up

I wish every drop of my milk slipped passed those pink lips and nourished the ground

Where the bones lay

Of my babies

Starved while I feed their murderer

I wish I dried up

So the missus babies would dry up too

And be brittle

So I could crumble them to dust

Return them to the ground

Where all children of my bosom lay equal"

- Hess Love

https://www.upworthy.com/its-black-breastfeeding-week-if-you-wonder-why-this-gut-punching-poem-offers-one-reason