"I dream of a nation where little black boys and girls and little white boys and girls can
go forth hand in hand"
I dream too…
I dream
I dream of a place where a black man and a black woman
Hand in hand
Reviewing and revising the layouts of their master plan
Over and over
Again
Like the blueprint of a heist
And the master plan
Plans the master will no longer have the upper hand
And the black man and black woman
Together build back the land
I call it revolution
A solution
To the pollution we have called love
Time to revitalize what we have realized we lost
Due to different flavas of love
This revolution will bring forth our nation
From what it is now to what is was meant to be
Like Ozzie and Ruby Dee
Eternal
That's the vision we decide to set up and be
Rebuilding the roots of our destiny
Because when we saw each other we instantly agreed
With time we can re-route our destiny
Easy to see
A revolution
We fit so natural so pure
Like shea butter and ashy elbows
Like a pick in search of a fro
Like Ashford and Simpson
Solid like a rock
Like Stevie's in the key of life
It seemed sooooo right…..nice
I was the green, like the land ready to grow
To give life and help the heavens find purpose
You were the black, powerful and determined
And together our passion builds the red
We was the land of our ancestors our culture
Collided in one, our past and future
Through us our nation
Then our generations
Passing our legacy
That would outshine history
Just like Roots…we keep growing
Like the Jackson's, we keep singing our song
Just like 2pac, we never die
Your east coast meshed with my Midwest
Bringing forth what the civil war should have promised
A fast pace with culture, liberation, excitement, belief, drive and passion
Mixed with the sweet tea of tradition, care, smooth wisdom and purpose
We made the perfect United States of African-America
"Lift our voice and sing, till earth and heaven ring ring with the harmony of you and
me…."
I sing
I sing
I sing
Letting my alto bellow out the belief and the promise of what we are
Until I hear my anthem being sung as a solo
And there is no bass voice, no drumbeat or heartbeat keep tune to our melody
Where is your voice?
Where is your pride?
Why am I singing acapella
A solo
So low
You were only mouthing the word, never giving voice to vision
Never putting your fist in air
When did my song of redemption
Become your reason for exemption
I remember and followed the answer of Marcus Garvey
I would move to the other side of the world
In order to keep a nation true
I work and rebuild the pride and smile as we soared high
Side by side, never giving reason to die
But your panther refused to let me move to my place to help you be
You fought it all with pride and power leading you blinding and only one vision to see
And in that vision there was no me
Just your shadow, claiming victory
I protested, with posters and greeting cards
Voicemails and sweet nothing.
I lodged a sit-in, never taking me out the picture
Yet smiling like a bamboozled fool tap dancing around the issue
Turning the other check
I stayed patient, non-violent
I was pushed to edge
But I waited
By any means necessary
You found reasons to leave
To deceive
To become my public enemy number 1
Fight the power…fighting the power that be
Knowing that the power you fought the most
Was the love that came from me
So we stood stuck.
Like Rosa park on the bus. Stuck
Like Muslim with the last pie in July. Stuck
Like fat girls in coochie cutters. Stuck
Stubborn fools fighting for a prize
Just on different teams.
Me wanting love. You wanting freedom.
I shall not be moved.
Until the shackles of reality hit me like hot perm on new growth
Deteriorated what I thought I upheld
Killing the roots that stood strong
Laying me down like Jesus off the cross
With nothing but exposure
Those shackles taunted me running vicariously through my mind
"What if"
"Not good enough"
"Failed again"
"Silly girl"
"You should have did this"
"If only that"
And they circled me in a cell build for Mandela. A cell that was built to take a believer
and hold them until they never believe no more. That cell that would close in and build
the boundaries of a settler a person that gave up on the vision, on freedom, on
emancipation, on revolution.
And I fought you no more, you disappeared like daddies on child support
I fought the prison that bound up
Black Love
A love for the nation, for my future generations
A love for me
Until I learn to break the shackles you twisted me in by remembering were I was before you.
"Like the dust on my ancestors grave..I am the hope and the voice of the slave….Still I rise"
And once my shackles loosen, like the noose you gave me to hang myself
I remember that the revolution never started with you
The revolution was to be birthed through me
It is the womb that remains fruitful that will change all that is to be
So you grabbed your Malcolm X philosophies and your self-righteous belief and I'll hold
on to the Chaka Khan
"I'm every woman"
I'll turn to Destiny Child and Aretha
To Nikki and Sanchez
More importantly, I'll turn to the keeper of key in this revolution
I'll to the greatest leader ever to be
I'll turn to the one power you underestimated
I'll turn to me….
"Free at last, Free at last, Thank God Almighty I am free at last"