My name is…
My name is…
My name is…

My name is…
TROUBLE

‘Cause as I walk through the door that’s all you see in me
As I walk down the street that’s all you see in me
As I speak, you can never see me, because TROUBLE is all that you see in me

I am, they are, we are, prescribed as TROUBLE before you greet me
And this is why I refuse to meet you

My name is…
HOPELESS

But this is because you never gave me a chance
Marked me down
Beat me up
And belittled me to 3/5 of a man.
You refused to claim my humanness and dehumanized my life

Set me free
Unchain these rusted shackles
Your grip is too strong,
Your whip still stings.
Unchain these rusted shackles
Set me free,
oh please,
dear God,
set me free.

My name is..,
GHETTO

because I dance with sassiness
flavor comes through vocally
talkin' like i ain't got no sense
but it's you who drove me there

livin in a place where violence never seems to rest
and no one understands respect
but that ain't me...
Excuse me,I'm sorry
I mean that isn't me

you see you caught me slippin'
but around you that isn't hard to do
just let me tell you
think before you speak
because your assumptions are not always me

My name is…
NIGGER

Sssshhhhhhhh.

Please don’t hush now or move softer than before
My slamming deserves more than some uproar
Behind locked doors and covered in white sheets
I know this is what you call me

Come out in the light
Come to where we can see you
Hide no longer,
The gig is up kid
I am not offend
We stand strong

If nigger is what you want me to be,
I’ll be the best one you have ever seen
I’ll play your game, but never believe in it

I’ll kill you with smiles
Undermine you with yeses
And agree with you to death and destruction

Like those before us,
Those 6 million and more…
We’ll rise, oh yes
We’ll rise

My name is…
HOODLUM

You placed me in there,
Claimed that this is where I belonged,
But if I call out for help you look past ‘cause you say that I’m just robbing hoods.
I am not misguided,
And I did not ask to be there,
Through your policies and political tactics I am here

I read just like you
I speak just like you
I write
just
like
you do

So before you see me walking out of RVC,
Don’t judge me before you get to know me,

We had no chance in this race
So we pray, sit, and sing amazing grace
With hopes that the sweetest sounds would bless us,
Provide us with hope.
‘Cause you said that we would never deserve a chance
but the fact is that not all of our fathers sell dope

Her name is…
ALYSA THOMAS

Not Alisha, or Alyssa or Alicia
Just Alysa, spelled A.L.Y.S.A
Love her,
hate her,
play her,
forget her,
It doesn’t matter
Just at least understand how to pronounce
HER NAME

His name is…
RAEKWON WALKER

shot him down
woke him up
slept underneath his bed sheets
lived in his soul
and this is the place you left him
leave me in grief.

it’s not Raheem
or Rashwan
or Ralph
Not Rick or Dave

You have helped him for more than decade craft the art skill of patiently waiting,
Waiting for his name to be said,
The two syllable,
yet simple name
and he still cringe each time it’s butchered.
The wait is no longer,
he has simplified it, owning his name for him
and gave you the opportunity to gain a PhD in the name game

He is smart
He is kind
He is important

Our names are…
PEOPLE

We are both human
The blood that pumps through our veins is not so different than yours.