{"id":3990,"date":"2022-05-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-01T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/palaver\/?p=3990"},"modified":"2023-06-28T17:54:24","modified_gmt":"2023-06-29T00:54:24","slug":"little-black-boy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/palaver\/spring-2022\/little-black-boy\/","title":{"rendered":"Little Black Boy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Little Black Boy<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n By<\/span>Lauryn Jones<\/strong>\n \n May 1, 2022<\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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\n \n \n Share\n <\/span>\n \n \n <\/svg>\n <\/span>\n Copy Link<\/span>\n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/svg>\n <\/span>\n Facebook<\/span>\n <\/a>\n \n \n \n\n<\/svg>\n\n <\/span>\n X<\/span>\n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/svg>\n <\/span>\n LinkedIn<\/span>\n <\/a>\n \n \n \n \n <\/svg>\n <\/span>\n Bluesky<\/span>\n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/svg>\n <\/span>\n Email<\/span>\n <\/a>\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n \n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Little Black Boy kiss his dunks that he got off the Nike SNKRS app.<\/p>\n

Little Black Boy kiss his mother on the cheek everyday before he leave the house.<\/p>\n

Sucks his teeth every time she says, \u201cWatch your back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ain\u2019t enough watching in the world to protect you if the police want you.<\/p>\n

He thinks that, he don\u2019t tell her that<\/p>\n

Everyday he wakes up thankful the NYPD don\u2019t wear Tim boots<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a lot easier staying alive when you\u2019re being stomped out by those big, bulky<\/p>\n

jawns from the Army Surplus Store.<\/p>\n

Little Black Boy refers to women exclusively as \u201cfemales.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stripping the humanity from the one subordinate group his little dunks can reach<\/p>\n

over.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Little Black Boy don\u2019t like females that got they lips drawn on.<\/p>\n

Little Black Boy from Bedford-Stuyvesant, he ain\u2019t seen no girls with they lips<\/p>\n

drawn on outside TV<\/p>\n

Or Instagram<\/p>\n

Or in his wet dreams.<\/p>\n

Little Black Boy say in his dreams you would never find me.<\/p>\n

I must look too much like his mama,<\/p>\n

An uncanny valley Little Black Boy refuses to enter.<\/p>\n

Little Black Boy loves him a racially ambiguous bohemian with dreads;<\/p>\n

Hair always about a 1B or darker.<\/p>\n

Little Black Boy only goes for females that don\u2019t know they father.<\/p>\n

That only wear Tim boots or lavender crocs unless they going to church<\/p>\n

Or the funeral of another Little Black Boy from they neighborhood.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Little Black Boy named Huey.<\/p>\n

Little Black Boy named Huey\u2019s mama named him after the sexiest Black<\/p>\n

nationalist she could think of.<\/p>\n

Little Black Boy named Huey speak Tut in bed.<\/p>\n

Goes to Jamaicans 8 blocks away to get his locs retwisted.<\/p>\n

Has recurring nightmares that end in him getting shot in the head.<\/p>\n

Little Black Boy named Huey wakes up in the middle of the night every night.<\/p>\n

Little Black Boy named Huey so woke he tired.<\/p>\n

Little Black Boy named Huey\u2019s mama must of have had big dreams for her son<\/p>\n

naming him that.<\/p>\n

Including but not limited to\u2014<\/p>\n

Dead,<\/p>\n

Political Prisoner,<\/p>\n

Filled with self-indignation,<\/p>\n

a Martyr.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Maybe,<\/p>\n

Little Black Boy named Huey\u2019s mama imagined him to grow up to be Murdered in<\/p>\n

the street,<\/p>\n

But not for no reason.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Lauryn Jones<\/strong> is a senior English Literature student at USC and future Ph.D. student in English Language and Literature at Cornell University. She has quite the toxic relationship with writing but sticks by her pen nonetheless. You can find her online @suplauryn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":288,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[51],"class_list":["post-3990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spring-2022","tag-poetry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLittle Black Boy<\/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:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/palaver\/spring-2022\/little-black-boy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Little Black Boy - Palaver Arts Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/palaver\/spring-2022\/little-black-boy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Palaver Arts Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/palaver.arts.magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-05-01T07:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-29T00:54:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/palaver\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/175\/2023\/06\/palaver-logo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"710\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"198\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"akcannon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/palaver\\\/spring-2022\\\/little-black-boy\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/palaver\\\/spring-2022\\\/little-black-boy\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"akcannon\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\\\/palaver\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8ac801b3c8176b6860207b43ecbe9e78\"},\"headline\":\"Little Black Boy\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-01T07:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-29T00:54:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/palaver\\\/spring-2022\\\/little-black-boy\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":3,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\\\/palaver\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Poetry\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Issue 11: Spring 2022\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/palaver\\\/spring-2022\\\/little-black-boy\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/palaver\\\/spring-2022\\\/little-black-boy\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/palaver\\\/spring-2022\\\/little-black-boy\\\/\",\"name\":\"Little Black Boy - 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