My pretty black princess smell sweet like that incense
She got a black girl name, she livin' black girl pain
This is for Beatrice Bertha Benjamin who gave birth to
She got a black girl name, she livin black girl pain
I keep her hair braided, bought her a black Barbie
That the day's like this
They just know the name they don't know the pain
For beauty shinin through like the sun at the highest noon
Growin' up days as a black girl scarred
Althelone, Mitchells Plain, Swazi girls I'm rep pin for thee
Don't be ashamed of yourself know I
I'm not playin', that's the prayer I'm sayin' for Diani
Publishers: BREAK NORTH MUSIC, PEN SKILLS MUSIC, SONGS OF WINDSWEPT PACIFIC, SONY/ATV TUNES LLC, WAYNNE WRITERS
I do it for the poet, I do it for the thug
Growin up days as a black girl scarred
So please hold your heads up high
The length of which she went for raising, sacrificing her own
'Coz they just know the name they don't know the pain black girl
From the top of the cable car at table mountain I am you
The pain of not reflecting the range of our complexions
For all my cousins back home, the strength of mommy's backbone
Promise I'll always love ya, I love to kiss and hug ya
And if I die then she'll be protected by Amani
Mannesburg, Guguletu where you'd just be blessed to get through
She four reading cornrows by Camille Yarborough
Momma yeah momma said
Momma yeah momma said
Tsidi Azeeda for Lavender Hill for Kyalisha
She a girly girl, she love to imitate her mother
Momma said that the day's like this
I see the picture clearer through the stain on the frame
Growin' up days as a black girl scarred
Don't be ashamed of yourself know I
Fiona, Jo Burg, complex of mixed girls
What's really good, ma? I'll be your promise keeper
In every ways till you've come so far
So please hold your heads up high
That you buy at the bookstore supporting black business
I keep her mind free, she ain't no black zombie
My mama said life would be this hard
This is for victory, and this is for the slaughter
For Mauritius, St. Helena, my blood is a million stories
'Coz they just know the name they don't know the pain black girl
I see the picture clearer through the stain on the frame
Momma said that the day's like this
This is for Makeba, and for my Mamacita
Will carry it forth till the day I die
I'm so blessed, man, y'all the reason I got up
They just know the name they don't know the pain black girl
Somebody put his hands on you I'm gettin' locked up
My mama said life would be this hard
Winnie for Joan and for Edie, for Norma, Leslie, Ndidi
So please hold your heads up high
In every ways till you've come so far
Will carry it forth till the day I die
For surviving through every lie they put into us now
That the day's like this
Yeah I do it for the people, I do it for the love
Momma said that the day's like this
They just know the name they don't know the pain
Fist raised caramel shinin in all our glory
My mama said life would be this hard
I do it for my mother, I do it for my daughter
They just know the name they don't know the pain
Teach her what black is, the fact is her parents are thorough
But she a Gemini, so stay on her friendly side
Songwriters: Talib Kweli Greene, T. Ibrahim, A. Mcintyre, Waynne Nugent, Kevin Risto
For Auntie Betty, for Melanie, all the same family
She'll put that look on you, it's like somebody' friend just died
That's her bigger brother and I love the way he love her
For rubber pellet scars on Auntie Elna's back I march
Momma said every day's like this
Girls with the skyest blue of eyes and the darkest skin
This is for Aisha, this is for Kashera
This world is yours and I swear I will stand focused
Black girls, raise up your hands, the world should clap for us
Will carry it forth till the day I die
Don't be ashamed of yourself know I
In every ways till you've come so far
For cape colored allied for realizing we're African
You and your brother should be lookin' out for one another
Momma said that the day's like this
This is for Khadijah scared to look up in the mirror