Let America be America, Not An Institution

Langston Hughes & Kendrick Lamar

Let America be America again
Let it be the dream it used to be
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free
What does money have to do with it
Im trapped inside the ghetto and I aint proud to admit it
Institutionalized, I keep running back for a visit
America was never America to me
Theres never been equality for me
Nor freedom in this homeland of the free
I said Im trapped inside the ghetto and I aint proud to admit it
Institutionalized
Life is like a box of chocolates
Tangled in the endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land
Be all you can be, true, but the problem is
A dream only a dream if work dont follow it
Shit dont change until you get up and wipe yo ass, boy
I am the Negro, servant to you all
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean-And torn from Black Africas strand I came
To build a homeland of the free
The free?
O yes, I say it plain
America was never America to me