Greetings, My name is Antoinette and I would like to share a poem that I wrote during my Freshman year of college at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, for the Campus Newspaper. I enjoy writing inspirational poetry and I look forward to reading Barack Obama's new book. Thank you for the opportunity to share my poem. Title: To Be Black and Female What does it mean to be black and female? Well I'll tell you in this short little tale. To be accepted we must work twice as hard, just like our ancestors who have been utterly scarred. We are the next generation, with us comes more expectation. We must overcome and bear, the burdens and pain that we share. To be the best we have to give our all, let not our weary bodies fall. To walk the road to success, we have to push and push to be the best. Well that's not so bad you might say. But you just try to black and female today! By Antoinette Redding, MSW,LMHC