by bekezela mguni

Call me Eve

I’ll split a pomegranate with you

Share worlds unknown

Only selfish gods would hide

Insecure about their place in the sky

I really want to know you.

Beyond dusk,

Before dawn

Close and quiet,

Loud if you like

I’ll have you oceans wide and bottoms of seas deep

As vast as you are

an endless horizon,

a new constellation,

a thousand time reincarnation,

a Song of Solomon chanted by his most devoted lover

I will write you new gospels

Salvation living on the tips of my fingers

This body is holy

My name a hymn,

Call me

My walk a prayer,

Watch me

Liberation in my embrace,

Come

I will hold you

I can

© bekezela
2013

bekezela mguni is radical librarian, activist, poet, doula, candle maker and cultural worker.
she believes that the collective sharing of knowledge, beauty and inspiration is a part of life’s purpose and brings that intentional spirit to her work.

born in San Fernando, Trinidad, bekezela is currently living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and has 10 years of community organizing experience, in which she has worked with LGBTQ communities, youth, women and people of color. she has been organizing with young women of color since her time at the University of Pittsburgh where she co-founded Sisters Beyond the Surface in 2003.

shortly thereafter, she co-founded New Voices Pittsburgh: Women of Color for Reproductive Justice, the only Human Rights organization in Pittsburgh led by, for and about women of color.
bekezela graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Africana Studies and a Certificate in Women’s Studies.
currently, she is the Program Director for New Voices Pittsburgh where she manages the SistahSpeak!
Youth Project, Women of Color HERStory HERStory Month and the LGBTQ Women of Color Reproductive Justice Series.
bekezela also serves as a proud member of the Ujamaa Collective – a business cooperative for women of African descent working to build a local and sustainable economy in the Hill District of Pittsburgh.
bekezela collaborates with various artists, educators and activists in Pittsburgh in educational, artistic and social justice endeavors.

she is a 2012 Urban Justice Center Human Rights Institute Fellow and  2011 Cathy Raphael Champion of Change recipient from the Three Rivers Community Foundation.
most recently she has completed her Masters in Library and Information Science and was blessed to participate in the first Librarians and Archivists to Palestine delegation in June of 2013.