We died for that right
To cast in our vote
To decide how to live
From a ballot like note

We died for that right
For a free spoken voice
And to elect as our leader
Who is best for our choice

We died for that right
So decisions are made
And our rights as a people
Won't wither or fade

We died for that right
To choose where we learn
And where we can live
From the profits we earn

We died for that right
To share in this land
And not live as slaves
Or policed by the man

Though we died for that right
We're still at a loss
Because our people don't vote
And we pay for that cost.

Why are we ignorant
To the things that we do
Like Black on Black crime
From the violence we brew

Why do we wear
Our pants hanging low
Like ghetto-ish bums
In a circus freak show

Why do we curse
And cuss like we do
And talk in Ebonics
Like the slaves use to do

Over four hundred years
Of shame and disgrace
We use the "N" word
Like no other race

Why do we leave
Our young ones alone
No family like structure
No house to call home

Why can't we prosper
Like Immigrants do
Who came here with nothing
And pave their way through

Why do we live
Such drug hungry lives
With gangsters and thugs
Packing guns and sharp knives

We seem to enjoy
Life on the streets
We work those slave jobs
Where pay is dirt-cheap

We live a life style
Of roach broken homes
Where trash and graffiti
And rats seem to roam

We don't get involve
In political laws
Nor do we vote out
Laws that have flaws

We're exploiting our music
With our sexual drive
Degrading our women
And destroying their lives

Our schools become jails
That we seem to fill
Like thieves in the night
We learn how to steal

So why can't we learn
Constructible skills
And walk the right path
To conquer all hills

Why can't we start
A new kind of trend
As Doctors and Scholars
And Builders of men

Why can't we sharpen
Our minds and technique
And show the whole world
That we are unique

Why can't we come
Together as one
So No one can say
That we were born dumb

Why can't we break
This bondage we keep
This hole that's been dug
So low and so deep

Why must we feel
It's been too many years
Wearing these chains
Of blood sweat and tears

And why can't we send
Our kids off to college
Its always been known
That strength comes from knowledge

We are destine to lose
This destruction of doom
The road of dead ends
These shadows of gloom

I pray we could change
These things we do wrong
For it's tough being Black
And hard to stay strong...

Speak
words that you say
words that can be heard a mile away
Speak
not empty
not full
but sincere
speak to all of me
Speak the vernacular of the heart and mind
my love speaks a dead language
Dead to all things sane
I am asking you to let go of your sanity
speak to my heart
speak to my mind
and let our love converse...