BUT I AM MORE THAN A WOMAN; I AM AN ATHLETE, A DAUGHTER, A SISTER AND HUMAN BEING.
YOU CALL ME JUST A GIRL AND I SAY TO YOU I AM MORE THAN AN A WOMAN.
YOU REMIND ME I DON’T BELONG IN SPORTS AND I SAY TO YOU I AM MORE THAN AN ATHLETE.
YOU SAY TO ME MY ROLE IS IN THE KITCHEN
AND
I REMIND YOU THAT I AM INDOMITABLE
AND
UNSHAKEABLE
AND
UNDEFEATABLY HUMAN—BECAUSE WOMEN LEAD BETTER.
I AM AN ATHLETE WHO IS HAPPENS TO BE A HUMAN-WOMAN;
I AM NEITHER YOUR FOE NOR YOUR NEMESIS — I AM SIMPLY HUMAN.
MY NAME IS LARI
AND
I AM LARI AND I AM MORE THAN A WOMAN ATHLETE:
I am more than A WOMAN in the land of immigrants and so the hate you give cannot break me — can’t break me.
I belong here as much as you do — and vice versa; and vice versa.
I AM BECAUSE YOU ARE and you are because I am: I am not your foe;
I AM LARI and LARI is who I am.
- let love reign.
- let hate go.
- let me alone be.
I AM MORE THAN-A-WOMAN-ATHLETE //
— Written By Justice Kwesi Kwarteng, BFA, MFA: EIC & Founder — I AM COLLAGE MAGAZINE
— Written: 2017 as an Editorial PSA Campaign for the brave LARI’s professional modeling and talent development portfolio by I AM COLLAGE MANAGEMENT.