00:00let's say i arrived five minutes late but i still don't have to wait in line i picture myself
00:14dressed to the nines wearing my favorite pair of jordan sixes in this one i'm eating crab at
00:20sunset with somebody's son or tacos or arepas or samosas or sushi or mangoes picked from his
00:28cousin's backyard in this one there is love and it is as black as the day is long in my heaven
00:34lawrence and easter are getting married at noon tomorrow and i still need to finish wrapping the
00:39gift i brought and making the sweet potato pie she asked me to bake in my heaven stevie wonder
00:45chimes that day break and lunch hour i do believe the god i serve has outfitted heaven with bluetooth
00:51speakers so when megan the stallion is more fitting i choose her and i rest often in my heaven
00:57a young woman from louisville kentucky wakes up and hits the snooze button one too many times
01:03in an attempt to steal one last kiss maybe she tosses her uniform in the dryer while trying to
01:10smooth out her edges on the way to work maybe she stops at the drive-thru on the way and hope her
01:16boss ain't tripping that day in my heaven a young woman in waller county texas is playing wop on her
01:22way to get brunch with her homies driving her toyota corolla or at the very least she lives to
01:28tell her therapist about the time she got pulled over and got the ticket she didn't deserve and my
01:33heaven black girls get to be themselves regular and mundane if they want to be get to be smelling
01:41like shea butter and wishing and dreaming and singing to themselves in the shower and watching
01:47the moon rise in east atlanta and writing poems about a man who snores loudly and burns the biscuits
01:54in my heaven the children of the block eat every night and their mother makes enough money to leave
02:01the man when he does not choose love in my heaven the people i elect to protect me do their job and they
02:09offer the refugees food and shelter and an education and a language they understand in my heaven
02:16there are no billionaires because what good is wealth if it does not solve the afflictions of
02:22the people i imagine a place where my queer poetry students are safe and find belonging and feel
02:30valuable where our last hope for justice does not die with one woman where justice is not just being
02:37held accountable for your actions but it means the black girl breathes and the black man lives to talk
02:44smack about the lakers another day say black girl when is the last time you wrote yourself a heaven
02:50when is the last time you dreamed a world where your breath was not traded for a white man's ego
02:56where you could see yourself in your leaders where your voice meant something where you could eat your pie
03:03i'm so excited to be a part of the girls united summit where black girls are shaking shit up
03:19i must admit though i am extremely tender it seems like so many things hurt all at the same time
03:26i am angry that people in positions of power continue to not act in our best interest
03:32i am angry that we live in a culture that continues to compromise the safety of people who look like me
03:40we have to act y'all we have to demand justice demand justice for the future because there is no justice
03:47great enough to restore what we've already lost but it is not my job tonight to be just another face on a
03:54screen telling you to vote it is my job to help you imagine a world where maybe the louisville attorney
04:00general chooses justice and courage instead of upholding a system built on violence corruption
04:07and white supremacy my name is ashley hayes you can find me on instagram at ashley hayes remember to
04:15hydrate moisturize mind your business wash your damn hands and show up to the polls
04:30how is the
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