Brown Girl – Smooth Girl by Shelia E. Lipsey

Little girl, grown big

Brown girl, grown tall

Smooth girl

you got to walk strong

Hold your back steady

And keep your mind from wrong.

Fill your thoughts with the things that count

This world too short for you not to amount

To being someone who can make a change

Brown girl, don’t give in to someone else’s rage.

Sweet girl, listen to this woman’s advice

Don’t go sleeping around, don’t throw away your life

Smart girl, hold on to the things I say

You’re going to make a difference in the world one day!

Leave the drugs and the blunts where they belong

Don’t let the law be the one to right your wrongs

Don’t sniff, don’t snort, don’t go that route

You got too much to do

of that there’s no doubt.

Brown girl

Sweet girl

Smooth girl

Smart girl

You’ve got to hold on

Keep your peace

State your mind

And leave the small,

nothing stuff alone!

(c) February 2001, Shelia E. Lipsey