Please Don't Tell Me, "I'm Color-Blind"!!

TransGriot Note:  I loved this creative piece Cheryl posted in a Facebook thread, and this one needed to be shared with the world.

Please Don't Tell Me, "I'm Color-Blind"!!
By Cheryl Courtney-Evans

PLEASE don't tell me, "I'm color-blind"!!
It doesn't make me believe you respect me,
To tell me you don't see color.
... I don't want to be invisible,
And black is a part of who I am.
Yes, I am a transgender woman,
But that's not all that I am.
I am a part of the African-origined diaspora
That descended from kings & queens in their blackness
Although some of my people may have been slaves there,
It was a different type of slavery experienced here.
But I don't want to ignore the richness of the lives
Born of the pain lived in a new home either.
It spawned the color we bring to our music, love & lives.
It is not to be ignored, and when someone tells me,
"I'm color-blind", they're telling me they want to ignore
The TOTALITY of my being.
So don't tell me this, let me know you SEE me,
Yet respect ALL of me, as I would respect YOU!