Poetry Lineage
The Rhythm of Resistance, Radiance & Love
Poetry is my compass and my fire. It shapes the way I live, lifts me when I rise,
and cradles the memories I am bound to honor.
It is the drumbeat of my ancestors,
the song of my arising,
the language through which I love the world.
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Watch, listen, and feel the soul of the Diaspora through Marva’s voice. The poems below are taken from the forthcoming book - Whispers of Black Privilege: Verses from the Womb of the Motherland.
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01
Rituals of Radiance
We rise with morning prayers,
we cook with songs from yesterday,
we dress ourselves in defiance and delight.
Joy is a practice,
justice is a ritual,
and education is our altar.
This is how we live, radiant and whole.
02
Chorus of the Diaspora
Maroons in Jamaica, fierce as mountain wind.
Blakfellas in Australia, guarding sacred songlines. Maoris in New Zealand, carving memory into the land. Gullah Geechee in Carolina, weaving sea and story. Everywhere, Africa speaks—
in rhythm, in ritual, in resilience.
The Diaspora is a chorus.
03
Saltwater Memory
We came across waters salted with sorrow,
bodies broken, spirits aroused.
Songs smuggled in the hollows of our bones,
drumbeats hidden in the heartbeat’s hush.
The sea received us,
and later fed our children,
carrying forward our strength.
04
Drumbeats in the Margins
We sharpen our pens like machetes,
cutting through silence,
writing justice into the margins.
From Kingston to Toomelah,
Harlem to Havana,
our words march like drums—
unyielding, unending, unstoppable.
