You're working at your leisure to learn the things you'll need The promises you make tomorrow will carry no guarantee I've seen your qualifications, you've got a Ph.D. I've got one art O level, it did nothing for me Working for the rat race You know you're wasting your time Working for the rat race You're no friend of mine You plan your conversation to impress the college bar Just talking about your Mother and Daddy's Jaguar Wear your political T-shirt and sacred college scarf Discussing the worlds situation but just for a laugh You'll be working for the rat race You know you're wasting your time Working for the rat race You're no friend of mine Working for the rat race You know you're wasting your time Working for the rat race You're no friend of mine Just working at your leisure to learn the things you don't need The promises you make tomorrow will carry no guarantee I've seen your qualifications, you've got a Ph.D. I've got one art O level, it did nothing for me Working for the rat race You know you're wasting your time You're working for the rat race You're no friend of mine

Lynval Golding Born 1921 Mendes St Catherine Jamaica The year was 1954 you know Sir Winston Churchill shot across the western islands And said come Help us rebuild this country devastated by war And so anyway my father set sail upon the wind rush Born for a new life My father was a tailor by trade So this could be the possibility of all possibilities But no there was no cloth to stitch Instead you know wha if I found work In a steel foundry pouring hot metal Day and night day and night And even worse you know what i mean Him Trying to find a room to rent This was becoming a nightmare for him He knock on door after door after door But the sign on the window keep saying the same thing No dogs no irish no blacks Welcome to England I'm not here to teach you I'm not trying to preach to you I'm just trying to reach out And say Time move on In 1964 My father showed across of Jamaica Son him said come join me So I set sail on a ship called the Askina When I reached Northampton on a cold winter's night Boy I was freezing I want to tell the captain to just take me back to Jamaica But no I was here to stay So my father sent me to a school Linden Road school in Glouster I remember the first playtime A boy shot across at me Oi you black bastard, come 'ere I said what He said Come 'ere you black bastard I said couldn't believe, I says what? Are you talking to me? Are you talking to me? Boy welcome to England I'm not here to teach you I'm not trying to preach to you I'm just trying to reach out And say In 1994 I move again The land of the free the home of the brave The United State of America And there I was Just walking along in the sun Mindin My own business Such a beautiful day man When I remember I had to buy a watch for my sister's birthday When why i eventually found this store As i walk through the door This woman in the store shouted at me Why you doing here you god damn nigger I said, I'm just, I'm just trying to buy a watch for my sister When she heard my accent She said, 'oh you're not from here, you're not one of them' One of them i said, you mean me being black Well ma'am let me tell you something right, I am black If that's all you see? The colour of my skin? In England they call you a black bastard In America they call you a god damn nigger Boy Welcome to my world But I'm not here to teach you I'm not here to preach to you I'm just trying to reach out And say Black lives matter

The Commandments of I, Saffiyah Khan Thou shall not listen to Prince Buster Or any other man offering kindly advice In matters of my own conduct You may call me a feminazi or a femoid And then see if I give a stinking shit Pseudo-intellectuals on the internet They tell me I'm unhappy because I'm not feminine Failing to consider that I may be unhappy Because it's 3 AM and I'm in the depths of YouTube Watching them... whining Thou may catcall me on the street But thou should take note that I'll catcall you right back To tell you that you look pretty sexy too in your joggers Or your suit, or your new-found look of confusion Girls should not turn on each other Or use man-made ideals like paths Don't you realize that you're only making a fool of yourself When you ask... "Why don't you wear makeup?" Is that what it takes to impress a bloke Whose brain is made up of promises of curvy size zeros And anti-gravity tits? Thou shall not tell a girl she deserved it Because her skirt was too short She walked home, streets lights illuminating her as a target But she started it, because she looked at him And he finished it 'cause he wanted to And they'll bring out her skirt as "exhibit A" before the judge And she should have the right to say "Thou shall not tell me what to wear Nor how to wear it" I shall not be the icing on your cake And I shall not be the candy on your arm But I shall be seen And I will be heard The commandments of I, Saffiyah Khan Pseudo-intellectuals