I’m stepping out, don’t mess about.

Don’t tell me to be patient.

I’ve been wedded, enslaved, white washed, and saved,

But now, I’m liberated.

I’ve been patted, and moulded, and shaped, and scolded

And I learned real fast how to please ‘em,

I ‘Yessir’ed, and ‘No Ma’am’ed,

I was cursed and damned,

And all for no good reason.

I’ve been put up, and I’ve been put down,

By folks who were black, white, yellow or brown,

Treated like I wasn’t human, just a puppet, a token,

But I healed my hurts, ‘cause for better or worse,

Black woman’s got spirit that’s never going to be broken.

Been labelled all my life,

Black, woman, mother and wife.

And their labels formed the bars of my prison,

But I’ve got to set free, this person who’s me.

‘Cause now I’ve got a vision,

Their myths and lies are dead,

Not heaped on my head,

And their history is all outdated,

Different sex, different skin, can’t change what’s within,

‘Cause now, I’m liberated,

And I’m stepping out, don’t mess about,

Don’t tell me to be patient,

No ifs or buts.

I don’t walk, I strut,

‘Cause now, I’m liberated.