Post by Park Heights on Jan 5, 2008 8:02:18 GMT -5
Displaced from home and brought across the seas
Disgraced and exploited for prophet and greed
Forced into slave labor to supply their master’s needs
Though some did escape… most just hung from trees
Nine lashes with the whip… then just left their to bleed
Denied the opportunity just to learn how to read
It’s no wonder they risked life and limb just to be freed
President Lincoln supposedly provided the key
Merely a tactic used so the South wouldn’t succeed
And when finally we were freed
We were introduced to the kind of people that Jim Crow breeds
Now even more we’re hanging from trees
Because of the contempt some people keep
Solidarity arose because there was a need for unity
Demonstrations… really peaceful situations… were met with hostility
Separate facilities were provided for our needs
Separate water fountains were provided for us to drink
A King arose because someone needed to lead
Following in the path made by former leaders' feet
The FBI seemed to erase a kingdom by killing it's Kings
Deaths shrouded in conspiracy
But that Kingdom is not completely deceased
It lies within the pride of which our grandparents speak
The path they traveled was forged from the calluses on their feet
They were the ones in the Black Panther party
They were the subjects of an FBI sting
COINTELPRO was designed to destroy them in the streets
Flooded us with cocaine and crack... meant to destroy our communities
We legally fight them with the NAACP
For the uplifting of our people is truly necessary
Social and political sabotage instituted empirically
Our right to vote is not really a right you see
The Lyndon Johnson Act makes it only temporary
Scheduled for a re vote next year when Congress reconvenes
Just leads me to believe, socially and politically
That we're still held on a very long leash
As a people we did make strides towards equality
It seems only to be met with a more subtle racist mentality
And there are still places where we STILL hang from trees
We're not exactly helping our cause either... you see
There is no unity within the Black community
And the younger generation? They live by a different creed
Only out for self... motivated by making money
Not that I blame them but they act and they don't think
Fueled by sin under the mask of virtue... that is pure insanity
No hopes... no dreams... no goals it seems
Sports and entertainment have given them opportunity
But behind the scenes THEY somehow seem to pull the strings
Throw millions in the laps of kids... give them the key to their dreams
Throw them on the world stage to shine ever so brightly
Their lives in the hands of men that just use them to make money
Another alternative is the processed derivative of the coca leaf
Which only leads you down two parallel streets
One leads to the penitentiary
The other to the cemetery
Disgraced and exploited for prophet and greed
Forced into slave labor to supply their master’s needs
Though some did escape… most just hung from trees
Nine lashes with the whip… then just left their to bleed
Denied the opportunity just to learn how to read
It’s no wonder they risked life and limb just to be freed
President Lincoln supposedly provided the key
Merely a tactic used so the South wouldn’t succeed
And when finally we were freed
We were introduced to the kind of people that Jim Crow breeds
Now even more we’re hanging from trees
Because of the contempt some people keep
Solidarity arose because there was a need for unity
Demonstrations… really peaceful situations… were met with hostility
Separate facilities were provided for our needs
Separate water fountains were provided for us to drink
A King arose because someone needed to lead
Following in the path made by former leaders' feet
The FBI seemed to erase a kingdom by killing it's Kings
Deaths shrouded in conspiracy
But that Kingdom is not completely deceased
It lies within the pride of which our grandparents speak
The path they traveled was forged from the calluses on their feet
They were the ones in the Black Panther party
They were the subjects of an FBI sting
COINTELPRO was designed to destroy them in the streets
Flooded us with cocaine and crack... meant to destroy our communities
We legally fight them with the NAACP
For the uplifting of our people is truly necessary
Social and political sabotage instituted empirically
Our right to vote is not really a right you see
The Lyndon Johnson Act makes it only temporary
Scheduled for a re vote next year when Congress reconvenes
Just leads me to believe, socially and politically
That we're still held on a very long leash
As a people we did make strides towards equality
It seems only to be met with a more subtle racist mentality
And there are still places where we STILL hang from trees
We're not exactly helping our cause either... you see
There is no unity within the Black community
And the younger generation? They live by a different creed
Only out for self... motivated by making money
Not that I blame them but they act and they don't think
Fueled by sin under the mask of virtue... that is pure insanity
No hopes... no dreams... no goals it seems
Sports and entertainment have given them opportunity
But behind the scenes THEY somehow seem to pull the strings
Throw millions in the laps of kids... give them the key to their dreams
Throw them on the world stage to shine ever so brightly
Their lives in the hands of men that just use them to make money
Another alternative is the processed derivative of the coca leaf
Which only leads you down two parallel streets
One leads to the penitentiary
The other to the cemetery
