BLACK WOMAN GENIUS ~ YOUNG, GIFTED AND GENIUS by Niki Gee

Niki Gee writes at the intersection of protest, prayer, and pride—where Black womanhood, queerness, and genius meet. Her work for stage and screen celebrates radical love, self-acceptance, and the audacity of becoming free.

ABOUT THE MONOLOGUE

This monologue explores how Black women must often monitor their power and voice while others espouse rhetoric that divides and misguides the masses. It highlights the strength of a woman of color who can walk into a room and silence the nonsense, including the internal voices that urge her to be quiet. It shows how we use our power not for praise but for the priority and purpose of growth for all. 

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EXCERPT FROM YOUNG, GIFTED AND GENIUS

     ~ Excerpt published by permission, all rights held by the playwright.

                 

                    

 

Genius walks into a room softly and changes its temperature. 

She reads the world in layers, 

hears a whole revolution in one chord of Nina Simone, 

builds banks in neighborhoods that were never meant to experience wealth, 

and writes plays that couldn’t be denied their Broadway debut.  

 

And sometimes, genius falls in love. 

And love has no color. 

Or maybe it does—maybe it’s the color of golden glitter, 

or rainbow shimmers, every color imaginable. 

Kaleidoscope bright. 

 

She opens her door to a woman with kind eyes and laughter like sunlight, 

and in that moment she says, 

“Yes. I will be all of who I am. I love who I am and you, I love who you are.” 

Not half. Not hidden. Whole.  

 

That’s the miracle they can’t measure— 

a Black woman choosing herself in a world 

that profits from her doubt.