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