"But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that [humanity] is still not free."
In a land that devotes time to promoting a message of “being all that you can be”
somewhere along the way we have lost sight of the true meaning of the American Creed
we claim to hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal,
…That by an existence inevitable we are endowed with the unalienable right to live a happy life free from oppression.
But although many have joined hands at the dinner table
There has been a steady degression in progression
fueled by a passion for justice
we cannot wear the title of progressive
When people no longer feel the need to be expressive
to put words and power behind a mission that our ancestors went restless…for
I will speak from the bottom of my heart and yell from the top of my lungs until I am breathless
If it means that we regain momentum in a movement towards peace that
is governed by the relentless
I am a descendant of a group of people
Who amidst adversity
Carried on resiliently
Despite a tainted history
Continued on purposefully
Never losing faith in a dream that diversity
And equality were poss-i-bil-i-ties
I am a modern day testimony of my predecessor’s faith
because of this knowing I choose to abate hate
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter"
and even if the road we trod is battered
we must continue for fight for our right
to live harmoniously
Or not only is the dream deferred but its shattered
We must find it in ourselves to break free from a system
That degrades the human being
That dims the light on living a life full of meaning
We cant be afraid to protest that which is unjust
dollar bills spread the message “in God we Trust”
But who can you really trust
When the lust over money precedes the value of a moral congress
Taxes turning the middle class into the needy
feeding the pockets of the greedy
blinding everyday common folk with false hope
telling them nothing worth having is going to come easy
and that is true believe me
but it becomes deceiving when
chances are ripped away from men and women before they are even given
and our children, babies, and infants
are subjected to third world living in a first world prison
we've freed the shackles from our hands and ankles
and traded them for chains on our brains, and blindfolds
and i can still smell the stench from the remains
of burning crosses scattered across the Carolina plains
and I can still hear the ringing from gun shots
pounded into the hearts of youth whose lives barely got a start
in Connecticut
and if you connect the dots they create a picture reflective
of a country whose prerogative is focused on promoting bogus laws
some say I speak like a rebel, but I don't stand without a cause
only a fool gathers behind systemmatic flaws
There will never be peace abroad if at home there's war
"There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular
but he must do it because his conscience tells him it is right"

Poet's note: Text in quotation marks are quotations from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The quotations are not all taken from the "I Have a Dream Speech."