Dear African Child,
I wish I had me when I was still your age
Now that it is you, having me in your life at that age
I guarantee you not an easy way but the right way
Not my way but your way
My way is the way I did not take at your age
I did as they did
I said what was said
I believed what was believed
Sadly, I also believed what they believed was me
The deception of their perceptions about me got the better of me
I was stolen from me
I was altered from me
I was digressed from me
I was never me at your age.

Dear African Child,
Let me tell you what I see when I see you
I see me before all these fears and doubts instilled in me
I see me before I was told and lied to about myself
I see me when it was still me and not them in me
For it was never about me, being me
But always about me trying to fit in

Dear African Child,
Be not me who was never me at your age
Be you instead, do you instead
For the best is in you always