I Am the Most Dangerous Thing

By Candace Williams

Over the course of these poems, the Black, queer protagonist begins to erase violent structures and fill the white spaces with her hard-won wisdom and love. I am the Most Dangerous Thing doesn't just use poetry to comment on life and history. The book is a comment on writing itself. What have words done? When does writing become a form of disengagement, or worse, violence?

The book is an exercise in paring the state down to its true logic of violence and imagining what can happen next. There are many contradictions—Although the protagonist teaches the same science that was used to justify enslavement and a racial caste system, she knows she will die at the hands of science and denies the state the last word by penning her own death certificate. As an educator and knowledge worker, she is an overseer of the same racist, misogynistic, and homophobic systems that terrorize her. Yet, she musters the courage to kill Kurtz, a primordial vision of white terror. She is Black and queer and fat and angry and chill and witty and joyful and depressed and lovely and flawed and an (im)perfect dagger to the heart of white supremacist capitalism.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alice James Books
• Release date: May 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9781949944259

Candace Williams

After undergoing a few unexpected roadblocks due to poor choices, Candace took an introspective look within, started to listen to God, and explore the plans he had for her. In doing so, she learned that although initiation into adulthood can be daunting many of the things she was facing were due to her own decisions. Candace attentively listened to God for instructions on how to recover from her past and become the best version of herself. In efforts to prohibit other young women from enduring similar challenges, She wrote A Better You Experience with the intent of giving women practical tools to confidently walk into adulthood. Ultimately, this book promotes the cultivation of better decision-making. Candace’s care and compassion for young women allowed her to compose each chapter of this book with vulnerability and selflessness in efforts for you to become A Better You!

Book preview

MORALS OF WORK

MOMMA SAID

For Ellen Williams and Arhonda Reyes

Momma said wake up.

Momma said it’s time to get ready.

Momma said you’ll be late.

Momma said your clothes are in the dryer.

Momma said get up.

Momma said get ready.

Momma said put your clothes on.

Momma said put your clothes on right now.

Momma said NOW.

Momma said your hair is a mess.

Momma said you should wear a headscarf to bed.

Momma said bring her a comb and some grease.

Momma said you need a new relaxer.

Momma said wash the sleep out of your eyes.

Momma said take the chicken out of the freezer.

Momma said don’t forget again.

Momma said don’t forget lunch.

Momma said don’t forget your gym shorts.

Momma said don’t forget she’ll be home late.

Momma said don’t forget your keys.

Momma said don’t forget your coat.

Momma said she doesn’t work this hard for you

to be cold.

Momma said don’t forget yourself.

Momma said you forgot the chicken last week

and if she has to go to Popeyes again, you aren’t getting any.

Momma said wait until the car warms up.

Momma said find good music.

Momma said she’ll never understand people who listen to prank calls on the way to work.

Momma said she’ll take Gladys Knight over Babyface any day of the week.

Momma said you look exhausted.

Momma said your math teacher humiliates you on purpose.

Momma said keep your head down and your pencil up.

Momma said we work twice as hard.

Momma said she works late to save for private school.

Momma said you’ll get in.

Momma said you’ll get in.

Momma said you can’t walk into school crying.

Momma said take a deep breath.

Momma said blow your nose.

Momma said there are tissues in the glove compartment.

Momma said you can’t be everything at everything.

Momma said you’ll be there in two minutes.

Momma said summer is almost here.

Momma said you’ll sleep in.

Momma said you should splash water on your face before you go to class.

Momma said we’re here.

PRINCIPLES OF VALUE

The first step to finding self-

worth is breaking yourself

into units

of desire: gender is a binary

defined by genitals

academic degrees mark wisdom

your skin’s degree

of pigment

proxies ancestry—your

ancestors were naturally rich

in melanin

your ancestors

were tallied

on shopping lists

your ancestors

were the squeezed

and haggled fruits

at a market

stand, but you never left

the market—the market

is your bedroom

the market is last

night’s dream

the market

is your love

sleeping next to you

is your buzzing

alarm you wake up

in a panic searching

for an exit

smoke obscures

your vision: gender

seems binary

because expression is taxed

to the margin

academic degrees

are mistaken for wisdom

because privilege is a discount

on prosperity

your skin’s degree

of pigment taxes

the nerves of