Pretty For A Dark Skin Girl (Spoken Word)

You're pretty for a dark skin girl, the typical expression
To give praise to your looks while downplaying your complexion
This type of compliment is conveyed with the deception
That dark women ain't really cute, but you make a good exception
As if Black and beautiful cannot coexist
Ever since the fall of man our view of beauty has gone adrift
When sin entered the world, so did opinion
We went from, "Behold, it was good", to, "What can we do to fix it?"
So let's take a ride and, travel through time
To a king who had 700 wives and 300 concubines
He knew a woman from every creed and every tribe
But only one caught his eye to make him start writing rhymes
The Song of Solomon, written to extol his melanated lover
And to the surprise of many, this lover was none other
Than the Shulamite, translated in the Hebrew as "O perfect one"
But unconvinced of her own essence, this title she would shun
At first she said, "I am dark, but lovely", probably said it with a snap
But then she said, "Look not upon me because I am Black
You ever felt like that? Come on, let's be true
One moment you're on top of the world
The next, the world is on top of you
Injustice and mistreatment has put us on the defense
Handling our uniqueness as a defect
They ridicule our fuel to keep it locked within our chocolate skin
Then wonder why we're not comfortable in the shoes they moccasin
In this instance we must keep in remembrance
That pigment doesn't negate that we're made in God's image
So despite what the serpent tells you on the surface level
There is still a certain treasure in your earthen vessel
But let's get back to Solomon
Because Solomon made a song praising the Black woman
Which is why today's music makes me sick to my stomach
We went from, "Return, O Shulamite; that we may look upon thee"
To, “Where them yellow bones? I don’t want no Black {BEEP}
We lift our hands and we do our dance
To songs infused with the mission statement of the Ku Klux Klan
We're too tucked in, 2 sheets to the wind
Too sleep to defend, come on, men
God planted a beautiful garden
But while men slept tares were planted amongst the harvest
And because we were too dozed to stand strong
It forced our women to put pants on and assume the man role
We were supposed to protect you, we were supposed to uplift you
I don't stand before you guiltless, sistahs, I repent too
For every song I played that called you out of your name
That looked past your crown and reinforced your chains
For every time my insecurities caused you distress
And every time I reintroduced the Brown Paper Bag Test
Y'all know they used to hold a brown paper bag to our face like this
And if you were lighter, you progressed
If you were darker, they said, "Next!", our society been a mess
Racism and colorism
What will it take to liberate us from this prison?
How about a brown skin Middle Eastern Jew
One Who would lay down His life for me and you
Skin color didn't affect His decision to spread love
Showing that the only color that matters is His red blood
You are valid no matter what skin you're in
You're not pretty for a dark skin girl, you're pretty, period
And this is to every hue, every tone and every shade
You are fearfully and wonderfully made