Requirements

I wrote and offered this poem for Dr. Joy Moore during her instillation as Dean at Luther Seminary. While this is not the typical poem used for an installation service, I felt convicted to name the power and purpose Dr. Moore has shown in the years I’ve known her while also addressing the way institutions often attempt to play in the face of capable black women. I did not know how these words would age, yet I come back to these words often.

Yesterday, I had the honor of reciting these words once more at an event honoring lament and the land. Today, I am reading of the circumstance now President Moore faces as a result of misogynoir at the hand of the institution she was called to lead. So I publish these words here: for Dr. Moore, and for every black woman who had to deal with institutions.

We see you. We hear you. We stand with you.

Requirements (poem for Dean installation service for Dr. Joy J. Moore, Luther Seminary, May 12, 2021)

You can watch the original video link HERE

Consider this my letter of resignation. 
I am tired. I have no more to give. 

I was hired to be a negotiator. A marker of change, to love and to heal. 
To set you on a new path but all you really wanted was a shield. 
You made all of these grand promises but your actions indicate otherwise.
And have only set me up to be the face of your lies 

You demand all the wrong parts of me!
I offer you life yet you want me to help you self destruct. 
I come with a bag full of graces yet you said only my soul was enough. 
I offer you truth and you hate it saying my approach was too much
I offer an idea and you take it, saying it needs a different touch

What exactly do you require of me!? 
I came expecting to teach you humility but you’d rather learn the art of smoke and mirrors
Instead of understanding justice you’d rather id maintain your unjust dealings 
Your unquestionable riches and your abundance illegally gained 
When I am built for liberation, collective care, and alleviating pain 

You wanted an executioner but hired a midwife 
You expect me to carry out death but I only know how to bring about life. 
So tell me, what exactly do you require of me? 
Because I can no longer contort myself to fit your perverted expectations 
Can no longer offer my lips to speak your manipulated explanations 

I am tired. And I have no more to give. 
So consider this my resignation 

Or maybe my resolution 
Against any further attempts to be something that I am not 
And in case you forgot
Allow me to reintroduce myself

My name is Joy.
And yes that is intentional
I am a midwife, and in case I didn’t mention 
I am brilliant
Capable
Resourceful 
Creative 
Some say overqualified 
And no I don’t debate it 

I am more than you have asked for 
And beyond your imagination 
So don’t limit me free me 
And release your expectation 

It is not my abilities that need adjusting 
Your requirements are just too small
So resign yourself to join me in our collective liberation
Or don’t require anything of me at all