Us

We are the billowing black cheeks blowing sassy trumpets
Always the jazzy young class fusing fashion function and style
Meanwhile we are the big scary brutes groaning under burdens borne
Whose backs are not easily broken
Born humming blues
Well black man, that’s our voice
They poke holes at our poise
Because they fear the way we persevere
And envy how we look good doing it
We are hewn in stone and beautiful to the bone
The sweetest thing even queens like Lauryn Hill have ever known
As irresistible as chocolate
To our mothers
Sisters
Grandmothers
They push us through
We are the dark shadows of triumph her heart goes out to
We have been stroked with brush that paints midnight skies,
The beginning of each day of our lives
I know we wake up to be greeted by this unbalanced justice they feed us
Like they expect us to just eat it in silence
But I challenge us to not be defeated
We are kings like lions when all we have is our pride
When we are scurried away from and eyed
Eyed
Eyed down like we’re a threat
When we haven’t eve bothered them yet
We are lions
They feel like we’re in their village
So like lions they want to cage us, sedate us, kill us
We are the brothers of the lion of Judah
The stone rejected by the builders
They feel like we’re casted from the mold of a savage. What’s sadder they think we fill it.
But I say we’re more soldiers than killers
I say its time to be more
More dealmakers than dealers
More than Christians - Crusaders
More than Muslims - Pillars
Because this isn’t about them!
Black man remember we set the rhythm in this nation we live in
We set the trends, make the music, score the points
We are the thoroughbred sires that run faster and jump higher
‘in the bedroom the boardroom and the streets
We made our own c-suites
We are the versatile hybrids whom sing mothers supported
Whom older ladies encouraged
A fatherless generation whom musicians inspired
Whom Obama empowered
I took mine you took yours we made ours..
OURS!
Now I’m hearing Klan members saying “White Power”
“White Power?”
I shake my head in pity
I shake my head in dismay
I smile because I’m flattered but that don’t make it okay
These days “pro black” is cliché’
Afro-centric, just a phrase
I feel pure pride that we took the matted afros of slaves
And made our distinct unique dreads, braids, fades and waves
I think we are fly in so many ways
And the wind beneath our wings is our pain
We are hurt
We are lost
We are hated
We are feared
But that’s not excuse because we are loved
And it’s up to us to make it from here.