A Woman's Work Lyrics

When you hand them your resume

And they want to talk about your makeup

When you get that corner office

And only talk about the length of your skirt

When they prefer to refer to your areas of weakness

Ignoring the weight of work you carry each day

When you cross every t and dot every i

But the promotion goes to someone

Missing an x to their y

When they set you in high places

But try to lower your standards

When you bring your experience to the table

And they still think

They need to cut your meal for you

When they call you sweetie and dear

Like your name got lost

When your four c curls don't meet company guidelines

And they seem to prefer your Black relaxed

When the task they assign you

Feels like a puzzle with half the pieces missing

When you break day along with parts of your spirit

To finish the job

That they only seem to know how to pick apart

When they say you must have cheated

When they cut budgets and corners

But not the load

When they don't believe you or in you

When they call you emotional

For having emotion

When they call you dramatic

For asking for respect

When they throw compliments your way

And you don't want to catch them

When they assume your pretty face means

Empty head

Means welcome mat

Means open legs

When you come to them human

And they prefer you be object

When you come to them rock

And they prefer you be pillow

When you come to them whole

And they offer you seventy six cents to their dollar

When they almost

Almost

Convince you

That everything you do

That your passion and labor is meaningless

It is then

It is then

That you lift your shoulders

With your chin parallel to the same ground

That your mother, grandmother, queens, ancestors

Battled on

When you climb and your fists

Grow bloody from pounding on the glass

Feel the dents where others have chipped

When you realize

That with all the world has told you

You have still quaked the earth

Planted seeds in dry soil

Watered yourself and bloomed

It is then that you push back

Against the people

Betting on your complacency

Recognize that women

Have always been the fuel for every

Movement

Have been the backbone

That stood alone and often unknown

It is then

You realize you don't have to hold

The lies they told

Please let the need for their approval go

Cause nothing you do for them

Will make you whole

So just shine

Like you are there for a purpose bigger than yourself

Just shine

Because we women have a tendency

To exhale excellence

And best believe

That everything you touch

Will parallel your brilliance

My dear

Do not let their labels and limitations

Destroy the legacy you will leave

That power

That resilience

It is in you

It's in your genealogy