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A woman taught to lead, not follow,
I am my mother's daughter.
Never encouraged to be abused,
I was taught to stand up to injustices by my father.

All of my life I've been shaped and molded,
Absorbing everything my parents were saying.
The proud, strong woman that I am today,
Twenty-for and a half years in the making...

Never let anyone hurt the ones that you love,
A valuable lesson I was taught.
And if anyone dare be-smudge your name,
A war would have to be fought.

"You see, all you have in this world is you name,"
My father's words echo in my head.
"You defend who you are and be proud of yourself,"
I've never forgotten what my mother said.

So to turn my head to let my cheek be smacked twice,
Is more than I can bare.
To have my honor trodden and my name torn and mangled,
Is pushing me too far, I fear...

I want to be me and defend myself,
Because it's part of who I am.
But you wish me to be passive and not cause waves...
That's not me, can't you understand?

It rips at my soul and enrages my heart,
To feel that who I am cannot be.
Who I am now is who I've been from Day One,
Why can't you just let me be me?