D.B. Mays > Quotes

“Stunning"

Melanin rich and honeyed, butter brown syrupy
‘Da blacker the berry, the sweeter the sweet
Girl, all hues of the ebony rainbow shine
Our rind so rare, age like fine wine
Lips plump like cherries ready to be picked.
Dey spend all kind of money tryin’ to look like ‘dis”
― D.B. Mays, Black Lives, Lines, and Lyrics

“We have to teach, tell, and show Black girls that they are beautiful ... that there is no standard of beauty, only defining it. And we, Black girls, define beauty, too. Our hair, shade, shape, and features are beautiful. We set trends, and the world follows.”
― D.B. Mays, Black Lives, Lines, and Lyrics

“We are a beautiful people. Even the way we face and overcome challenges is beautiful. Our beauty deserves to be elevated and celebrated.”
― D.B. Mays, Black Lives, Lines, and Lyrics

“Black Diamonds

Black gemstones pillaged from Mother Earth and mined from Kemet,
Crystallized into rare gems under
centuries of pressure.
Yet, clarity remains pure under the
brutal heat of history
And the alluvial mining along the
coastlines of black beaches.
Whitewashing while extracting Nubian gems from sable sands,
Twelve million carats separated from
the soil of black lands.”
― D.B. Mays, Black Lives, Lines, and Lyrics

“American Soup"

We've taken the lid off,
the pot is boiling over.
Watch yourself, don't touch it
lest you burn and bear the scars
of that good ole American melting pot
that’s cracking under the weight of its faux democracy.”
― D.B. Mays, Black Lives, Lines, and Lyrics

“Sometimes you have to tell the whole damn truth no matter how ugly and painful it may be. America needs to smell and sit in her own feces for a while and walk around and let the world see her stained rear end and cover its nose at the stench of her democracy.”
― D.B. Mays, Black Lives, Lines, and Lyrics

“Elegy to Black Panther"

Yibambe, Mfalme, yibambe on your crossing to the ancestral land
Where we imagine the Infinity Gauntlet sitting safely upon your taloned hand.
Rest in power, Mfalme, sleep peacefully, for your earthly battles are won;
The King of Wakanda forever, our most esteemed, Native son.”
― D.B. Mays, Black Lives, Lines, and Lyrics

“The Run"

It’s the middle of the day, I know some are home,

and they see and hear the wrong that’s going on.

A Black man is being hunted on their street,

That’s why no one calls in help for me.


I hear the shots, three times I’m struck.

I try and try, but I can’t get up.

My head is lifted toward the sky,

No pain, I’m riding the runner’s high.”
― D.B. Mays, Black Lives, Lines, and Lyrics

“Black Lives Matter, Too"

Black Lives Matter doesn’t mean this fist, but it does mean resist
When oppression and injustice are not up for discussion
Insurrections and protections when wrongs aren’t corrected.
It means black is equal, inherits the same rights,
Liberties, protections, and the pursuit of happiness as whites”
― D.B. Mays, Black Lives, Lines, and Lyrics

“I aim to convey, through lines and verse, the Black experience as it is today so that the generations who come after us have a lyrical but accurate account of how we contended with racial and social injustice and violence during our lifetime. In essence, I write to promote the reverence we deserve for our resilience, beauty, and humanity.”
― D.B. Mays

“Blacktivitiy"

Bespattered with brilliant stars shining bright
And suspended over the splendid, sable sea.
Though all His works are wondrous beauties,
God’s greatest paintings are of you and me.”
― D.B. Mays, Black Lives, Lines, and Lyrics

“Blood-Stained"

Six minutes, no medics, I gasped as ragged breaths escaped my lungs.

“Hold on, Bre, hold on,” my love pleaded, but I was already gone.

I drowned in my own life’s blood as I heard my love weep for me.

Lord, wake us from this nightmare – we want to go back to sleep.”
― D.B. Mays, Black Lives, Lines, and Lyrics

“We still tiptoe around having an honest discussion about what it really means to exist while Black in this country. All lives can’t matter if Black lives don’t matter. Demanding equality and equity isn’t radicalism. This is realism. We make these demands because the Constitution isn’t an accurate reflection of Black life in this country. If liberty escapes few, it escapes all.”
― D.B. Mays, Black Lives, Lines, and Lyrics