Mikiiya’s story originally appeared in up + rising, a celebration of extraordinary Black voices, and is the first chapter of i-D’s 40th anniversary issue (1980-2020).
i-D chronicled over 100 activists and artists, musicians and writers, photographers and creatives, in Atlanta, Baltimore, Minneapolis, LA, London, New York, Paris and Toronto.
There’s so much to say but where do we start
I guess we could start at the root
The seeds have been planted
And the trees have been growing strange fruit
The soil’s never dry around here
Constantly moistened by black mothers tears
If you listen closely
You’ll hear an echo of a scream
For his momma he cried
And her murderers lied
A pattern of legal abuse
Quick to blame it on suicide
While tying their 6th noose
And the trees have been growing strange fruit
We’ve been waiting for the perfect storm
When lightning will strike down
And burn the trees roots’ in the ground
Then they will no longer bare strange fruit
But they still stop and frisk
Having melanin runs you more risk
In our hands skittles look like a gun
But gun in hand they’re just “having fun”
Black funerals fall on blind eyes
Deaf ears when our children cry
History always omits the black side
Everything you know today was created by black ancestry
Ancestry we can’t trace cause yall wiped our family trees
Too busy making us plant seeds
Who’s roots grew into strange fruit
The soil’s never dry around here
Drowning in black mothers tears
Not just an echo but a chorus worldwide
For his momma he cried
And her murderers lied
A pattern of legal abuse
Quick to blame it on suicide
While tying their 7th noose
And the trees continue growing strange fruit
Credits
Photography Carlos Nazario
Styling Christine Nicholson
Hair Raina D. Leon.
Make-up Alana Wright at See Management using Fenty Beauty.
Styling assistance José Cordero and Marisa Ellison.
Casting director Samuel Ellis Scheinman for DMCASTING.
Casting assistance Alexandra Antonova.