[Lyric] Listen Intro (Stephanie French)

Mic check 1, 2 1, 2
Are you there?
I need space
A place
Where I bring my locks and waves
Coils and braids
I need room
For my dreams to echo

Is my voice
Melanated with fresh coco
From the motherland
Too strong for you to swallow?
Do my eyes intimidate you?
Is that it?

So dark and yet so bright
Reflecting the sun
Communicating with God at a level
You're unfamiliar with
Do I scar you?
Are you afraid my black magic
Will contaminate your bloodline?
Maybe you're scared of the dark
Is that it?

Are you concerned
You'll wake up in a sweat
Perplexed
Worriеd my lips thick
Like the welts
On thе backs of my people
Will creep into your room at night
Shouting "Murder"
Am I your nightmare?

Is this why I'm hushed?
Kept locked under the bed
Where monsters belong
Is that why
I'm never enough?
Why even with degree and phd
I'm nothing more than an educated mammy
Well...
I'm tired

I'm tired
Of standing in the back row with my hand up
Constantly being ignored
I'm tired of being force-fed
Ivory coloured dreams
Swallowing sexist ideologies
Maybe you didn't realize
But I'm allergic to colourism and misogyny
Please excuse this word vomit
But. I'm. Sick
I'm sick of shouting from soapboxes
Dancing in your shoes with no soul
I'm sick of begging for my birthright
I'm sick of lightening my tone
Questioning the pattern of my breaths
Wondering if they match yours
I'm. Sick

Yet I wonder
Do you cringe at the sound of my God
Laughing at yours?
Do you burn
When He rains blessings on my people?
Does your stomach turn when He kisses my face?

Sad

Cause this coco drenched voice
Birthed from the motherland
Is too strong for you to swallow
I wasn't created to be consumed
I don't care if I intimidate you
For every chromosome in my body
Communicates with God
At a level you're unfamiliar with
And I refuse to make light of
What God has made dark