Artist: Mahogany Public f/ Oozeela, Dirt Gritie, Arlo Maverick, Proveli Paragon, Titilope Sonuga, & Janaya Ellis Album: JALI Volume 1 Song: Another Day at the Office Typed by: polilive@hotmail.com [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? [Janaya Ellis – Chorus – 2X] 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 [Janaya Ellis – Chorus – 2X] 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 [Janaya Ellis – Chorus – 2X] 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