Black Girl Literacy, Pt. 2 Lyrics

I hear his privilege before I see his face

A grown man's request

In the cursive of a demand

What's your name, shorty

The girl has her weight

Thrown against the subway pillar

That weight maybe about 100 lbs

He is speaking and she is not

Her friend

With the same wispy frame

Is not

He assumes it is due to his mask

He lowers it

Like she needs to see his mouth

To know that her place

Is to listen

He is confused that she is not honored

Bothered that she doesn't gift him with

Her name

Does she not know

How to respect her elders

This grown ass man

Leaning into this teenage girl

Who leans into the subway pillar

Whose friend leans on her left leg

As I lean into the anger

That scratches against my tongue

Ready to crack the air

The moment these two

That I have now branded my little sisters

Need me

She says her name

Is behind a door

He is too old

Too ugly

To walk through

She locks away

All the jewels

He assumed belonged 
in his palms

He belches

You ain't that cute

As if convincing his pride

To remain swollen

And I ensure he hears my

Whole hearted

Judge and jury of a laugh

As they switch places

He now the child stomping away

They

The young women learning

That the slow tongue of childhood

Is not afforded to Black girls