A Brother’s Cry

 

Everyone sees me as just a boy

But what they don't know is I walk through the shadows

Leaving behind footprints of a man.

“My purpose is the innovation of my nation”.

 

It's time we stop contemplating and change our nation.

“I live in the community where I constantly hear the echo of a popping sound

That prompts every radio station in Chicago to tell us to put the guns down.”

“I feel so misunderstood”, if they can only see how much hatred is inside of me.

First impression of my appearance: thug, Criminal,  menace, failure.

 

For Tommy it's a fashion phase,

but for me it had to be the way I was raised.

Always viewed as a villain

Predestined to fight for the rights “promised to all men.”

Should I always be ridiculed for the color of my skin,  or should I communicate the suppressed thoughts from within?

 

My attitude is revered and may come across as mean, but I'm just taking on the persona that was given to me because I am a descendant of kings.

Forced to try to survive in a competitive state when in reality we all have expiration dates

so caught up in the game our futures are slipping away like yesterday.

 

you say I cause dismay because my jacket has a hood and my size is larger than the next

I walk around with my hands held high out of fear that the next trigger pulled is for me.

We are taught in order to be a man we have to take a stand, but instead of being given a hand we’re given a gun,  put up or lay down, eye for an eye that’s the number one rule in the hood.

 

Only a lucky few get to rise above or die trying, as for the rest, we have to make the best and try to survive without destroying our minds and losing the soul inside.

Pop pop……….. I hear echoing in my ear as I look up and see my brother gasping for air

 

with his last breathe he says “my brother be strong  we don’t belong here  and ……. my brothers will become extinct like a whisper in the air.”

 

I have to start now.

I have to educate myself in order to make a change, the build of my community is a honor I want to gain. I will be the change I wish to see and the chance of success for my people starts with me.The alarm of an educated African American man is near so be aware. It only takes one to instill the fear.

 

Pop pop……….. I hear echoing in my ear as I look up and see my brother gasping for air

with his last breathe he says “my brother be strong  we don’t belong here  and ……. my brothers will become extinct like a whisper in the air.”