To Be Black, Queer, and a Woman in the Land of the Free (Some Restrictions May Apply)
Dayna J. Francois
They say history repeats itself, but I didn’t think it would be a speedrun. I didn’t think I’d live to see the past rearview-mirrored into the present like a poorly written reboot.
This administration treats progress like a rental car, scratches out every mile we’ve driven forward, rolls back the odometer, hands the keys to the same men who never had to ask for directions.
They are rewriting history in real-time, taking out the parts where people like me exist, where we love, where we resist, where we have the audacity to be both Black and alive and not apologizing for either.
They are banning books, as if the words inside them are more dangerous than the men holding the pens. They are erasing our stories, but I refuse to be a vanishing ink tragedy. I refuse to be a censored paragraph in a textbook written by cowards.
They say “traditional values,” but all I hear is “some people don’t deserve rights.” They say “protect the children,” but they don’t mean the Black ones, the trans ones, the ones who need free lunch more than they need their prayers legislated.
They make policies out of fear, fear of a future that doesn’t look like them, fear of a world where queer kids don’t grow up hating themselves, where women have autonomy, where Black doesn’t come with an asterisk, where history doesn’t tuck itself into a whitewashed bedtime story.
And I know what they want. They want us silent. They want us small. They want us digestible. But I was not born to be easy to swallow.
I am a Black, queer woman in America, which means I am a walking contradiction to their idea of what this country should be. Which means I am everything they try to dismantle, and still, I stand. Still, I kiss my girl in the sunlight. Still, I laugh too loud in places they wish I wouldn’t. Still, I wear my skin, my voice, my identity, like a parade they cannot rain on.
If they are rewriting history, then I will write louder. I will carve my name into the margins, etch my story into existence, remind them that I was here.
That we were here.
And no matter how many laws they pass, how many lies they tell, how many futures they try to bury, they cannot unwrite us.
Parirou Djafari is a dedicated artist passionate about exploring intersections of abstraction. With a keen eye for composition and color, she crafts evocative works that blend familiar elements with dreamlike textures, inviting viewers into a world of contemplation and emotion.
Dayna J. Francois is a Haitian-born, queer poet, storyteller, and podcast host whose work explores the intersections of identity, love, grief, faith, and self-reclamation. Adopted at two and a half years old and raised as a pastor’s daughter, she navigates the complexities of queerness, religion, and personal growth with unflinching honesty. Her poetry is both deeply introspective and boldly declarative, weaving vivid imagery with raw emotion to unravel the contradictions of desire, loss, and self-discovery.
With a voice that balances tenderness and fire, Dayna’s writing often examines the ways in which we build and unbuild ourselves: how we inherit, break free from, and redefine the narratives imposed upon us. Whether reflecting on love that lingers like an unfinished sentence, the quiet ache of familial distance, or the resilience found in choosing oneself, her work speaks to the power of claiming one’s story.
Beyond poetry, Dayna is the host of a podcast that embodies the ethos of being gay, being hot, and doing things for the plot, blending humor, vulnerability, and candid conversations about queerness, relationships, and self-exploration. She is also working on her debut poetry collection, A Pastor’s Daughter Falls from Grace, which chronicles her journey of unlearning, unbecoming, and stepping fully into herself.
Her work has been described as a sapphic confessional, a reckoning, and an offering; one that invites readers to take what resonates and leave the rest.
Instagram: @daynajfrancois // @Stirringtheplotpod
Stirring the Plot, hosted by Dayna J. Francois is streaming on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
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