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What Does It Mean To Be A Dumb Witch Boy? The Uncertainties of Monsters known as Witches and Queer Youth

(Inspired by Mitch Alexander, Todd Harper , Donald R Myers Jr. )

The simple answer is it’s a monster that doesn’t have its foot fully planted in the mundane and yet it isn’t fully planted in the fantastical either. It’s a being somewhat confused about their surrounding and prone to muddle up the world around them. They are prone to being both destructive and constructive with the powers they were gifted. And yet they are bound by the laws of both societies even if that goes against their very nature They aren't born naturally charming like the vampires that stroll nightclubs and aren't born wild/free like the werewolves. They aren't born naturally charming like the vampires that stroll nightclubs and aren't born wild/free like the werewolves.

They are cannon fodder for when their voice is needed to protect the fantastical world...

Moving from the figurative to the literal, The Dumb Witch Boy has an awkward place in the LGBT community. I consider myself falling in this category. Someone trying to fit in a community that isn't as inclusive as it should be. I'm fat enough to not look like that other fat guy, and yet I'm a little too black to fit with Grindr guy's ideal of attractiveness.

As a DWB we're allowed to use our powers/voices to protect against the things that attack our community.

However when we have to use that same power/voice to protect ourselves from the negative powers within our community ...we aren't met with the same love. In fact, we're told that those issues are "non-issues" and we're being "divisive..." So we briefly leave the fantastical world to go back to the mundane world, because we're being attacked there too as well.

The mundane world loves us when we're giving love potions. It loves us when we stay silent and protect them. It loves our labor. It hates us when we want to be seen and protect from other members of the mundane world. It hates us when we speak out. So we go back into hiding, staying out of both worlds until we're considered "needed" again. And that's when things are going well.

Because now the mundane world has a sick way of weaponizing versions of us. Versions that sound like us and with our kind of power. These Doppelgangers vote for the most destructive weapons against our community...especially the DWB community. They say that the monsters don't need to hide...as long as they are stripped of everything that makes them...themselves. It's a lie...A front...it's a trap.A lot of the monsters see it, and yet...these charming monsters get them every single time.

Every... Single... Time...

And like the good or bad witches that we are...we go to bat for them. Save this one, protect that one...it's like we're stretched thin. We do this....

Every... Single... Time...

And it's a tiring thing to be a part of. Because we have to deal with our mundane roles as well our fantastical roles. And for the younger DWB, it's even worse. They are hunted down, forced to change, and manipulated on both fronts. And for the lot of them...it ends in death...

Both Physical and Spiritual...

So one has to ask "where was this revolution...this power...this explosively wild nature I was promised?" To this, I have no answer.

Because on some days I feel Simbi Makaya (Vudu) who was powerful at magic and communication. And other days I feel like Faust, who made deals with the devils only to look like a clown when trying to use his magic.But unlike Lovecraft, I'm not afraid of the eldritch. The horrific alien gods of madness don't affect me. He was afraid of the unknown…

Simbi Makaya Veve

… I know the unknown. It's only scary to the conquers trying to take over our culture. I'm more afraid of the known. Of powerful men who wear suits who only know how to destroy.

Hoodoo Conjurer by Monkey-Paw

I am a Dumb Witch Boy. I'm optimistic to stop caring about the world around me and yet I've become cynical to things change.

I am a Dumb Witch Boy. I pray for strength and power to get through the uncertainties that is my life when it feels like my own powers are not enough.

I am a Dumb Witch Boy. I search for others like myself to pull power from in hopes that together we can battle through anything.

Being a Dumb Witch Boy is nothing like being a character from The Craft. And yet I wish it was. At this moment. As I am 24, Black, Queer, and awkward. The fantastical and mundane feel scary. And some days I watch those monsters… And I ask myself..."When will I come into my powers like them?" "When will I find my book of shadows...my family's magic...my familiar...my coven?" a young and presently awkward me ask. I shrug. I have no answers to that. I just know...that I am a DWB.

Green Cunning Man's Grimoire
Created By
Marcus Twitty
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