My family died for this! 

  

A sister jumped over a ship with her baby, 

A man was whipped and taken by slavery.  

They went through many years of being chained and shackled 

  

Picked cotton in the heat, 

And died while standing too long on their feet. 

  

Too long on their feet for a man or woman they called master. 

  

Having the masters baby just so they too could work through the disaster, 

But eventually my people were so called freed, but the mind is still rooted so very deep… 

  

Too deep to see what freedom really is. 

  

My people wrote books and poetry! 

Showed the master that I AM SOMETHING WORTHY! 

  

I can rule JUST like you, write JUST like you, and even become the president of this nation     just   like  you. 

  

You see my black is beautiful and my mind is feeling free. 

Free from being chained and shackled because my people made a movement just for me. 

  

Because of Martin, the dream can really come true. 

  

Because of Rosa, my ride can be oh so smooth,  

BUT, the way things are now… 

  

Make sure you drive the speeding limit, 

Because you never know if it’s your life or a speeding ticket. 

  

Make sure you teach your kids to love one another, because no one wants to hear that “it’s just another black brother”. 

  

They want you to have a Malcolm mindset,  

But live a Martin kind of life. 

  

All people have to do is make sure that they do what’s right, 

So it doesn’t just cost someone else their life. 

  

  

So what is America to you? 

  

Is it really the home of the free -? 

Or a place where some dreams flee? 

  

Is it a world where your dream is deferred- ? 

Or can your voice really be heard?  

  

It’s 2017, and people are out here killing each other. 

  

It doesn’t matter if it’s a white man or another brother 

  

Stop waking up the next morning planning to kill each other! 

  

Wake up for real and believe in each other!