The Black Man Said:

My heart is guarded but my hands are up,

Hoping that one day Im not a victim of those protecting me.
Instead of feeling protected I feel intimidated and live in fear that,
My family and my children will one day face the abuse and death
At the hands of an officer whose job is to protect me.
At the hands of an officer who may be bias based on his institutional policies
Or the stereotypes that he carries with him that surround black criminality.
And despite the years in between slavery and segregation,
We still remain segregated, and discrimination still persists.
So we fault the stuck up suburbans, private prejudice and black poverty for modern segregation,
We not only deceive our own history but avoid considering
Whether new blueprints might instead promote an integrated community.
We are repeating history as it dates back that history repeats itself.
If you dont know your history or the history of your community,
The vision that you once understood no longer holds an understanding, so now its a lost vision.
A vision that you once understood of equally and fairness is shattered when the men and women
Placed in charge abuse their powers against you and there is no justice.
In a world where the justice system was built to keep us at the bottom we continue to work our
way
To the top only to be kick down again and again and again, we are staggered and stunted in our
growth
And it will remain this way until someone, anyone breaks the silence.
They are killing us, More viciously, More unapologetically,
But this has awakened a generational sleeping giant.
Not only has anger arisen but so has the power, might and unity of an entire community.