ColHER (Color)

Written By DaVoice

I never felt shade as deeply... until the day I decided to be myself completely and love...FREELY.

We are made to love...to feel something greater outside of ourselves...a gravitational pull that draws us to someone else. This energy is one of a kind and hard to keep once you find. The purest attraction is when you can stand in love with arms wide open...willing and vulnerable to everything attached...to be able to love in the present without involving the past.

Her soul is the most resilient hue I have ever seen, beautiful like an evergreen. My tears became the RAIN of her BOWS... one by one my inhibitions I let go...and without regrets...I surrendered who I was for all that SHE is...ColHER.

If black girl joy had a face, it would surely be mine- indescribable bliss no longer denied. People choose to see otherwise, but that’s just because their colHERblind. The contours of her body can’t be ignored...traced in grace and dipped in melanin...I embraced the patterns of her so that our hearts could blend...ColHER.

The tone of this relationship is no different from any other...it’s just as special as the bond of two friends and lovers. There are no gray areas of my comfort zone...I’m certain of my truth...the pigment of my affections I dye the deepest purple for you.

So allow me to shape my intentions and fill in the blurred lines...tinting with unconditional love over every outward lie. I found liberation for myself amidst this new war in matters of the heart...and we who dare to be are steadfast like water colors glowing in the dark. We are worthy of living and loving as we chose, no matter the prototype of your favorite hue...we all matter and it is the greatest matter...ColHER.

DaVoice

Ms. Katurah Mariessa` Hughes  a*k*a “DaVoice” was born April 23, 1987 in Fairfield, California.  The youngest of 3 children and the only daughter, she expressed many talents of singing, acting, and writing at an early age. Her parents supported her by providing piano lessons and allowing her to attend Power APAC Music courses to further mature her talents. In high school, she performed in musicals, choir competitions and solos in talent shows. Her first love was singing until one of her teachers took an interest in her writing and helped to establish her voice in another way: poetry.  During her Eleventh-grade year, she first performed an original poem (“Black Therapy”) for the Black History program at age 16 and recited it flawlessly with passion. Her peers nicknamed her “the talented Kat” and her teachers prepared a path for literary pieces to overflow at every opportunity such as the school newspaper, programs, community events, etc.

While attending college at Jackson State University she obtained a bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in History.  Katurah continued to explore her talents by joining the arts groups on campus such as M.A.D.D.R.A.M.A. Scene45 and the Outspoken Poetry Club. She later became the founder and president of the Jackson State University Shakespeare Club from 2010 to 2012. While there, she participated in several poetry events both on and off campus, the “birthplace” of her poetry name happened at a popular open mic spot called Cultural Expressions also known as SeVens or “The Graffiti Building on Milsaps Avenue”.  She was nervous, so she asked the MC to cut the lights and she performed in the dark. Her original poem (“Tell Me How to Live & Show Me How to Love”) was a powerful delivery. It was at that moment she was given her pen name “DaVoice” 

 As a professional, she received her master’s degree in teaching Secondary Education in 2014 from Brandeis University in Boston. Katurah has served as a teacher in both private and public-school districts. She holds active memberships with professional and social organizations such as Teacher’s First, National Education Association, International Reading Association, National Council of Teachers of English and Social Studies, Association for Middle Level Education, Queens Emerging,  Power Poets and became a traveling sister of The Order of Eastern Star since 2010. Her hobbies include songwriting, puppetry, arts n crafts, scrapbooking, tasting new cuisines, photography, traveling and journaling. Katurah has become well received in her community. On Jan. 2, 2020, Katurah opened a new inspirational poetry spot called The Word Well which serves as another platform for artists to share. She also performed an original piece “I Question America” as one of the featured poets at the MLK: Night of Culture event at the Two Mississippi Museums on Jan. 20, 2020

She looks forward to public speaking events and book signing/ performance opportunities. For more information or booking, please contact 601-812-7846 or email katurah.davoice.hughes@gmail.com

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