They say “Africa”

and picture huts—

mud walls, cracked heels,

and children chasing hunger through the dust.

They speak of poverty

as if it’s a birthmark.

They imagine struggle

wrapped in tribal cloth.

But what they never see—

are the iron gates,

the educated fathers in tailored suits,

mothers fluent in more than sacrifice,

and daughters walking halls of marble

long before they walked through immigration lines.

They say,

“Take her back,

so she can see how people live.”

But they forget—

some came from glass windows,

from evening prayers,

from homes where books were read aloud

before the sun rose.

They don’t see the schools,

the gardens,

the jazz,

the debates at the dinner table,

or the pride stitched into every uniform.

They don’t see the brilliance.

They don’t hear the cadence of leadership

echoing across continents.

They see skin,

but not the story.

They see a name,

but not the legacy.

Africa is not begging to be saved.

Africa raised scholars,

leaders,

visionaries—

who now sit at global tables

unfolding truth like linen.

This is not what they imagined.

And maybe—

that’s the point.

#NotWhatYouImagined  

#ReclaimingNarratives  

#AfricanExcellence  

#LegacyAndLeadership  

#BeyondTheStereotypes  

#GlobalVoices  

#PoetryWithPurpose  

#StorytellingMatters  

#CulturalIntelligence  

#PowerInPoetry  

#EducatedAndRooted  

#AfricaUnfolded  

#MindWondersPoetry  

#VoiceAndVision  

#UnlearningBias