Back in the 1990s there was a woman, she went by the name of Skin. She fronted a band called Skunk Anansie, a British band.

They played soft and hard rock, they trail-blazed and were a mainstay of British popular music. They still play and still are popular today.

Skin was unapologetically black, and the band put out records that faced racial issues head on.

As a teenager this band influenced me and made me think. I hold them in the highest regard for not backing away from what they wanted to say.

Today I wanted to share the lyrics and video to one of those songs…

Intellectualise My Blackness – Skunk Anansie (1995)

I hit him with a piece of his philosophy

Anglo-Saxon muck in his type of greed
What did he do to deserve such hate?
He tried to intellectualise my blackness

He tried to summarise, to institutionalise
Still I could recognise he was materialised

He tried to intellectualise my blackness
To make it easier for his whiteness
He tried to intellectualise my blackness
Oh, save me, save me!

He’s always tryin’ to make up for his little slips
The joke about the nigga and the yellow nip
And then he tells me I’m so different from those other shits
When he tries to intellectualise my blackness

He tried to summarise, to institutionalise
Still I could recognise, he was materialised

He tried to intellectualise my blackness
To make it easier for his whiteness
He tried to intellectualise my blackness
Oh, save me, save me!

Oh, motherfucker don’t you lecturise me
Yeah, don’t you ever try to lecturise me, yeah
Motherfucker don’t you lecturise me, oh no

He tried to intellectualise my blackness
To make it easier for his whiteness
He tried to intellectualise my blackness
Oh, save me, save me, save!

He tried to intellectualise my blackness
To make it easier for his whiteness
Intellectualise my blackness
Oh, save me, save me, save me!

Intellectualise my blackness
To make it easier for his whiteness
Intellectualise my blackness
Oh, save me, save me, save me!