No Other Gods

Maurice L. Tracy
February – April 2021

I crafted this piece as a play on the Christian idea of Jesus returning and false idols being destroyed. When I wrote it, it felt as if whiteness and its lock on power was beginning to crumble. If the actions of people this January is any indication that whiteness is in danger, then the folks who benefit from whiteness—and those who imagine they do—know this and are reacting like caged animals. I was interested in how the lie that is whiteness is being exposed while at the same time I wanted to recognize a divinity that exists within me as a Black queer person, a power that is quiet and nurturing and cleansing.