say her name

(a poem)

her name is
     Rahab
but they call her
     a harlot
     a prostitute
          as if one can do that
               alone
          or
               by choice
they mock her
     behind her back
all in an attempt
to strip her
of her
     humanity
     narrative
     dignity
     identity
     story
     life
yet,
there she stands
     in power
in the pages of history
an important
     person
a transformative
     influence
a woman
a mother
     of hope
Rahab
in a world that would rather
     silence her
          than hear her
               voice
                    speak her
                         witness,
     call her names
          than acknowledge her
               strength
                    to write her own
                         story
she has a name
the one given her
     by her mother
it's not the one you call her
for her name is
     Rahab.