Lletres: Mahogany Public. Jali: Vol 1. Another Day At The Office.

[Oozeela:]
Dealin' with me on a level
So I'm not sure
But the higher the monkey climbs
The more he expose
The more he expose
Never call in sick
Get to work on time
Still I'm feeling like I'm held back out of spite
This is just another day in the life

[Dirt Gritie:]
Is it nature or nurture a history that has cursed us
A heritage inherited by American culture
We prey on differences like vultures
And do on to others in hopes that they don't insult us
Behind your teeth held deep in your lungs
Is a distain you hold for me as you bite your tongue
I see my strength is something they don't like
To see a black women in this position in life
They disposition is like...
And the tension is so thick it could be cut with a knife
It would seem I got limited heights
Trying to break the glass ceiling but the shingle is white
Again I think my strength is something they don't like
I could be wrong but I feel I'm right
Witness most black Canadians submissive
While strong assertive black woman is?

[Chorus x2: Janaya Ellis]
Another day at the office
And their watching
But the plastic smiles they show
Are not honest
So I'm cautious
Which can make me seem so cold

[Arlo Maverick:]
Sista Sista, your load is hard
Your race and your gender must rival odds
Two strikes against from the time you start
So you find yourself working extra hard
To get ahead in the work place
Your advancement credited to the color of your face
Advancements credited to your gender
But could it be the fact you're a viable contender
People make assumptions of how you'll act
Politically correct so you can't react
Liberal so you'd think they'd be more cooler
But you're the butt of the jokes at the water cooler
But when you're present, like musical chairs
They switch the race, thinking you won't care
You're welcome to smile, but never object
Cause you'll be made to pay for your intellect

[Chorus x2: Janaya Ellis]
Another day at the office
And their watching
But the plastic smiles they show
Are not honest
So I'm cautious
Which can make me seem so cold

[Proveli Paragon:]
Tick tock, I'm sitting at my desk
Staring at the clock
Watching time fly by
I ain't goin nowhere
Trapped in my dark skin
Spending the rest of my life
Try'na shatter the invisible ceiling
I do my thing better on the phone
When they don't even know I'm an immigrant
See me face to face they get ignorant
Quick to discriminate
What's the colour of the person you date? It's a big deal around here
On my break I reminisce about Tanzania
Where nobody cares about the texture of my hair
Habari gani?
Nzuri sana
They gon' show you love
Especially if you're black
But it ain't like that around here
Sometimes I wonder why the hell I work here
My train of thought slippin' off track
There's a customer calling me nigger
It's my day at the office

[Chorus x2: Janaya Ellis]
Another day at the office
And their watching
But the plastic smiles they show
Are not honest
So I'm cautious
Which can make me seem so cold

[Titlope Sonuga:]
I want you to know
That I hear it
Behind the calculated smiles
When you decide at first sight
What this face is worth
And I see it
When you glance from
Long extensive resume to
Brown face in disbelief
Because my achievements don't fit neatly
Into that little box you prepared for me

I feel it inside that stunned silence
In boardroom conversation
When the unexpected woman voice
Springs forth from black mouth
Speaks clear and coherent
But even though my lips are moving
You can't seem to hear me
I've pieced together thought and logic
But you can't bring yourself to understand it
Because I've denied you
The usual defences
You will not use my so-called "africanness"
To dangle success from my reach

But even beneath the freshly pressed pencil skirts
And crisp white collars
I carry her in my spirit even now
That girl before the stand up straights
And don't talk with your mouth full
And color within the lines
I am still that barefoot brown girl
Running wild on dusty roads
Carrying the dreams of an entire race