[00:02.480] |
Hijabs, hoodies, afros, locks |
[00:05.320] |
Teddy bear, liquor bottle shrines, rocks |
[00:07.440] |
Tanks, prayer rugs, church pews, |
[00:09.570] |
Mexican corn stands |
[00:11.190] |
Blood, sweat, and tears, police batons |
[00:13.190] |
Gas masks and bullets create graffiti on corners |
[00:16.260] |
Murals that salute freedom |
[00:17.820] |
or death for liberty |
[00:19.130] |
Be it Inglewood or Egypt, |
[00:20.700] |
Bedstuy or Baghdad |
[00:22.190] |
Syria or Liberia, the west bank |
[00:23.790] |
or the west side of Chicago |
[00:25.600] |
Where food and liquor stores |
[00:26.910] |
still occupy the block |
[00:28.300] |
While police and community watchmen justify why they shot |
[00:31.220] |
Emmit Till and Malice Green, |
[00:32.600] |
Rekia Boyd and Trayvon Martin |
[00:34.410] |
Better not wear that hoodie |
[00:35.740] |
while shopping for a carton |
[00:37.240] |
Or whatever they sellin in your food desert |
[00:39.080] |
Cause your soul is dessert |
[00:40.210] |
and will be dissected and consumed |
[00:42.340] |
On the Fox evening news while we sing the blues |
[00:44.990] |
The new Jim Crow caged bird sings |
[00:47.370] |
Cause he's tired of occupying his misery |
[00:49.430] |
and of our marching |
[00:50.810] |
He wanna fly to a higher consciousness |
[00:52.370] |
But his school on academic probation |
[00:54.430] |
They gave him medicine, |
[00:55.430] |
diagnosed him with a felony and mental retardation |
[00:58.060] |
So he refuses to cease the firin, nobody's hirin |
[01:01.110] |
In Illinois, 67 is the new age when you retirin |
[01:04.490] |
Class lines have blurred, |
[01:06.060] |
those who used to have, have not |
[01:07.870] |
Pensions bein snatched |
[01:09.120] |
Those who never have keep their hands stretched |
[01:11.930] |
Social services being cut |
[01:13.740] |
Sterilization clinics giving out pills to numb the womb |
[01:16.740] |
Young girls referring to their vaginas as tombs |
[01:19.240] |
Thinkin protests are temporary and trendy |
[01:21.790] |
Well rock a t-shirt and carry a poster |
[01:23.410] |
And two weeks later it's back to normal |
[01:25.600] |
But they say times are changin' |
[01:27.600] |
The revolution is becoming second nature, |
[01:29.730] |
causes are combining |
[01:31.100] |
People carrying torches, |
[01:32.480] |
hope burning from their hands |
[01:33.980] |
Attaching explosive devices |
[01:35.540] |
cause they keep stealing their lands |
[01:37.350] |
In the name of freedom |
[01:38.790] |
Hijabs, hoodies, afros, locks |
[01:42.160] |
Teddy bear, liquor bottle shrines, rocks |
[01:44.240] |
Tanks, prayer rugs, church pews, |
[01:46.780] |
Mexican corn stands |
[01:48.270] |
Blood, sweat, and tears, police batons |
[01:50.080] |
Gas masks and bullets create graffiti on corners |