#WCW — Warsan Shire – Brown Girls Out Loud

Sometimes the men – they come with keys,

and sometimes, the men – they come with hammers.

-Warsan Shire, The House (2014)

Some of you may have known of her before Beyoncé released her visual album in 2016. Lemonade centered much of her poetry and if you weren’t familiar before you wanted to devour her afterwards.

Warsan Shire is a poet and activist who writes openly, beautifully and intensely about black womanhood throughout the diaspora. Proudly Muslim, Warsan was born in Kenya to Somali parents and raised in London. She defies all stereotypes, while calling us to the raw places living inside us that need tending.

When the men come, set your bodies on fire

She pulls at the places inside of us that will not be tamed, that must be free, that will be heard. Her brilliance has been translated into several languages including, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Estonian and Swedish. She teaches workshops online and worldwide using poetry as a salve to heal trauma.

For all of this and more we celebrate Warsan Shire during National Poetry Month as our woman crush Wednesday!