Originally posted June 2020
TuPac changed his message, then coincidently ended up dead
When you awake a nation’s conscience they place a price on your head
Dred Scott sued for his freedom and was heckled out the courtroom
Yelling, “Nigger you remain a slave! Go back to picking cotton, coon!”
Collin Kapernick was blackballed, for equality he fell to a knee
He’s protesting injustices, but a flag is all that they see
Nat reciprocated a peoples’ suffering, “ the preachers coming caused fear”
He was hung in Jerusalem; I wonder was his last thought “change is near”
James Cone preached the Black gospel, suffering and salvation; we’ve embodied these words
We now stagnant in our suffering, salvation has become absurd
Marcus Garvey promoted Pan-Africanism, but jailed for fraud
He was promoting self-worth but for a nigger that is odd
Fredrick Douglass taught that tyrants’ limits are measured by the endurance of the oppressed
We still learning to live without their foot on our chest
Nelson Mandela was imprisoned more than 20 years for being a threat
He never hated his accusers; God’s love encased his breast
Martin Luther King Jr. said if you can’t walk, then crawl, but never give up
Question is, where we headed Martin, on our bellies we are stuck
Malcolm X said we should have equal rights and this by any means
He didn’t prophecy our future would be measured by money and triple beams
Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale gave us a Black Party to stand firm behind
Black Power became inept, too few knew how to better use their time
Then Tookie Williams and Larry Hoover took initiative giving ideals to the youth
Now crime and gangsterism this lost culture inhales as the truth
Where are Legacies of the suffering of the men of this race
It’s like men left the house and left chaos in their place
Where are the leaders who are willing to die for change
Those who pray fervently or so this is what they claim
I am looking for the Great men/women who will stand up for actual change
I am calling those great leaders, those who really know their own names
Where are the leaders, the defenders of human rights
I ask that you rise from the dark corners, there is room in the light
If I call your name, it isn’t judgment on what you do but on what can be done
See I am looking for true unity, this for our daughters and for our sons
So where are these leaders, those whom I can see
I am looking towards our future, I’ve seen our history
