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