The poem begins with the speaker reflecting on the nature of Black people's childhood memories, saying they are "always a drag." She states that in these memories, you ("Nikki-Rosa," though autobiographical, is mostly written in the second person) recall growing up in poverty, but—while this may have been true—the public and media tend to misrepresent your experience by focusing on said poverty after you have entered the public eye. They never bring up your happy memories, such as your relationship with your mother or the feeling of taking a bath in a big tub.
The speaker continues to elaborate on the general public's misrepresentation of Black people's childhoods, using cases from her own life as examples of the larger problem. She states that the public never understands that the painful memories of your childhood were due not to poverty itself but to the disappointment caused by other issues. For example, she references the Hollydale development, which was an all-Black housing development, and how excited your parents were at the prospect of building a home there. (Unfortunately, in real life, Giovanni's family was unable to secure a loan for the construction at Hollydale due to racist lending practices.) Excitement and rejection: these are the kinds of human experiences the speaker thinks should be remembered by the public, but "your biographers never understand / your father’s pain as he sells his stock / and another dream goes." They misunderstand that "though you're poor," poverty was not the real issue, especially not to the child. And, while your parents did fight a lot, and your father did drink, what mattered to you as a child was that your family could get together and enjoy special occasions.
At the poem's conclusion, the speaker—now using the first person—says that she hopes no white person ever has a reason to write about her because white people cannot fully appreciate her experience. "Black love is Black wealth," she says: the value she got out of life as a child came from her relationships with her loved ones, not from money. So, she says, when white people do talk about her "hard" childhood, they will not get that she was actually happy.
