{"id":9959,"date":"2020-07-28T01:15:20","date_gmt":"2020-07-28T01:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/?p=9959"},"modified":"2020-07-28T01:37:12","modified_gmt":"2020-07-28T01:37:12","slug":"turing-test-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/preferred","title":{"rendered":"Preferred"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Preferred<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It is a preference,<\/p>\n<p>My preference,<\/p>\n<p>To keep my sides shaved close,<\/p>\n<p>And my high top high,<\/p>\n<p>When stepping fresh out of the barbershop.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It is a preference,<\/p>\n<p>My preference,<\/p>\n<p>To have my sandwich cut into four equal triangles,<\/p>\n<p>Never squares,<\/p>\n<p>Before satisfaction can satiate my hunger.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It is a preference,<\/p>\n<p>My preference,<\/p>\n<p>To stand pretty in a pair of dirty sneakers,<\/p>\n<p>Whilst she stands tall in plus inched heels,<\/p>\n<p>The invite did read: <em>smart casual<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It is a preference,<\/p>\n<p>My preference,<\/p>\n<p>To hang copper, leather and beaded medallions from my neck,<\/p>\n<p>And keep that girl\u2019s best friend,<\/p>\n<p>Clear cut, off my fingers and wrists.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It is a preference,<\/p>\n<p>My preference,<\/p>\n<p>To fuck to the rhythm of my ancestors heartbeat,<\/p>\n<p>Yet,<\/p>\n<p>It is not a preference,<\/p>\n<p>That her body is not his.<\/p>\n<p>Not to love on a man. Not him.<\/p>\n<p>It is not a preference.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>My queerness is not preferred.<\/p>\n<p>It dictates the swing of my infatuation,<\/p>\n<p>And informs of womxn that grab hold of an emotion,<\/p>\n<p>Romantic,<\/p>\n<p>And opens up my vulnerability exclusively to her,<\/p>\n<p>Only to find safety in her ample bosom.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Genderqueer is not a preference.<\/p>\n<p>To not conform to binary stipulations is not my preference.<\/p>\n<p>To identify as me. Not a preference.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>My pronouns are not preferred.<\/p>\n<p>I ask that she addresses me as <em>they,<\/em><\/p>\n<p>That he,<\/p>\n<p>When he speaks of me,<\/p>\n<p>He speaks of <em>them <\/em>and <em>their <\/em>collective beauty,<\/p>\n<p>Because the balance of masculinity and femininity that is me demands it.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It is not a preference.<\/p>\n<p>My skin,<\/p>\n<p>Brown, Coarse haired, Inked and Pierced,<\/p>\n<p>Tells the story of my continent,<\/p>\n<p>My voice ululates in the languages of my people who continue to make it,<\/p>\n<p><em>Aluta Continua<\/em> will cease as our legacy.<\/p>\n<p>My Afrikanness is not preferred.<\/p>\n<p>It imposes on the way that I walk,<\/p>\n<p>It lingers in the air long after I have spoken,<\/p>\n<p>Feeds my spirit as my bible remains, preferably, unopened.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Preferred.<\/p>\n<p>Not a preference.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>My bread and how I choose to enjoy it.<\/p>\n<p>The way I choose to style my locs.<\/p>\n<p>My hightops and kicks. Preferably red in full colour.<\/p>\n<p>No longer enriching those who came to destroy.<\/p>\n<p>Their wars. Their beliefs. Their toys. Their ideas.<\/p>\n<p>My choice.<\/p>\n<p>It is a preference.<\/p>\n<p>My preference.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>My identity is not a choice.<\/p>\n<p>Transgender. Gender Never Conforming. Queer. Gender. Genderqueer.<\/p>\n<p>Not a preference.<\/p>\n<p>Queer. Gynosexual. Womxn; with the \u201cX\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Not a preference.<\/p>\n<p>Not my preference.<\/p>\n<p>Me. Beautiful. Handsome.<\/p>\n<p>Beautifully Handsome.<\/p>\n<p>Not a choice.<\/p>\n<p>Afrikan. Black. Proud.<\/p>\n<p>Not preferred.<\/p>\n<p>Just me.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Preferred &nbsp; &nbsp; It is a preference, My preference, To keep my sides shaved close, And my high top high, When stepping fresh out of the barbershop. &nbsp; It is&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-style\" href=\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/preferred\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8938,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Preferred - Ake Arts &amp; Book Festival<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/akefestival.org\/archive\/preferred\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Preferred - Ake Arts &amp; 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