We see you brotha
In the community
CD’s
DVD’s
Got that new Will Smith
Got that new Bey
Holla at ya boy
C’mon holla at me
The law might call you pirate
But we recognize the hustle
Nah I’m good bruh
But you making ends meet
Staying up late
Hustling hard in these streets
Trunk full of “merchandise”
Some of it PG
Some with a little spice
And we know
never to call the po-po
After Eric Garner
Sandra Bland
Tamir Rice
We all know
Never,
EVER
call
the po-po
We can’t know which ones will come
Ones looking like us
Or one’s looking like them
Can never know
if they will protect and serve
Or shoot us first
Never know if what they do
will be heroism
Or murder
in the first
And after over and over again we see
Our little brown bodies slain
We can’t desensitize
We have to stand
Cause
You never know
when the one lost will be your
Brother
Uncle
Son
Or Man
Your Father
Nephew
Cousin or
Best friend
I can only imagine
What the call was like
When your woman heard
When your son realized
I can only imagine
How your momma must feel
I hear your family saying
This can’t be real
Alton
we’ve never met
And perhaps we wouldn’t have been friends
But I feel the pain brother
I’m feeling you
Man
Your soul cries out to us
From beyond the grave
Urging us to do something NOW
Move
Make haste
Cause as I watch your baby boy cry
My heart aches
How different will his story be?
How long will it take?
For him to come face to face with the same devastating fate
Walking to school
Or playing with friends
Or having an argument
Or trying to make amends
How long will society
Pit us against them
How long can we wait?
How long to withstand?
The injustices that plague our society
How long racism?
How long white man?
Alton
speak brotha
How can we make it right?
How do we answer your blood calling out?
in the night?
When will they see that we all bleed red
Though different skin colors
And textures of hair
We’re human
We’re people
And we deserve to breath
Deserve to be heard
Deserve to be seen
Alton, my brother
How can we make this right?
How do we answer your blood
Call us
in the night?
Do we stomp and stampede in city streets?
Do we protest at state capitals
Demand reciprocity?
Do we bow down
With yes, suh’s
And, no, suh
What can I do for yer, suh?
Do we turn deaf ears
Live lives of perfunctory
Alton
We need answers man
How do we shake this world?
Pull heads out of sand
How do we open blinded eyes
So they can clearly see
That
What happened to you
Is happening to we
How do we open mind?
Full of fog and myths
How do we shape this nation?
Where is the difference?
Alton
My brotha
When will they understand
That we are not animals
Just shades of man
We’re not here to take
We just want to live
Have a life
Fall in love
Maybe a few kids
Alton
My brotha
I’m standing to make this right
I’m here to answer the call
Of your blood in the night
