“Behind Every” and “Growing Pains”
Behind Every
Behind every sentence is a paragraph
Behind every word is a book
Behind every black person is a human story Full of the life you took
Behind every flag is a nation
And this one nation a start
To dream, to be free, to flee tyranny,
But for others the same notion a naught
For this nation of three,
Was for two not so free
Stolen land, stolen people
It’s true,
And This nation
Became a non nation that day
Whose ideas
No longer red white and blue
George Floyd, was his name, a Black man, the same, a truck driver, a security guard too,
A Son, a Father, a Grandfather, a Brother, A working family man, not 1 job but two
A man
that we see
that we hear
that we touch
A Is a real life, a
red blooded human being
With dreams for his little girl A girl dad was his world Watching her grow up, Taking her to a game, He won’t be doing
Behind every “perp”
Is a human who works Behind every “criminal” Is a life that is critical
Behind every “thug”
Is a human we hug
all alive,
all have people,
“life”, has meaning
whether they scream
whether they talk
whether they run
whether they walk
they are real men,
real lives, and beings
like when white families make mistakes we want ours to live too
perfect men God did not make, these are humans
you see a human component is… sometimes things don’t go right we argue
we fight
we freeze
we take flight
these are the exact same things “others” do as well
but “others” get to live,
when cops see white
listen,
“not perfect”
“mistakes”
“wrong choices”
“wrong place”
are all part of the human experience
without attempts
without decisions
without choices
without movement
let’s face it we would all be Jesus
Who would He come to save Himself? Everyone would be angels
So, if humans are human,
It comes with non perfection
It comes with mistakes
Even defiance
It comes with disagreement
It comes with questioning authority It comes with challenging authority Even non compliance
Run, walk or talk,
hop a fence,
take a car out of park,
but humans shouldn’t have to die for it
Let’s be real,
no one wants to go to jail,
get in a police car, or be with cops, so a reaction is natural,
but you don’t take a life for it
you don’t take a life for it
it’s human reactions
it literally comes with your job, but you don’t kill for it
All the movies that have been made where the cops give a chase and the guy gets away,
it’s hilarious
But the exact same behavior in black skin
when they shoot,
TO KILL,
it’s just Murderous
All talk back
But only die if black
All talk ‘ish
But the whites ones live?
It’s the exact same behavior but two different responses?
America wake up
You see it with your own eyes For cops
This is not the same country
This is not red white and blue not us, the US,
but me or you
If its black, it’s bad
kill them
If it’s white, it’s all good
and just a little misunderstanding?
And when a black is stopped It’s turned into a black hunting???
Recognize this is backwards We are going backwards
The country is going backwards, American is not growing
or getting better,
but going backwards
Behind the barrel of a gun
is a daughter, cousin or son a mother, a father, a grand parent an aunt, an uncle, a grandson
That’s kinfolk, relatives,
Friends and family, our youth So how do we say it
We are human like you
It’s why we said
“Black lives matter” too
Because ”black lives” and “white lives” Should be 1 concept not 2
human life should matter equally to ALL the ones in GREEN, TAN OR BLUE
Behind the barrel of a gun
Is actually a
Human
So we appeal to the human in you
Because the one the gun is pointed at is a loved one,
a human being too
Growing Pains
I see America is going through
birthing pains
needed to get baptized
And born again
200-year-old baby
Still sucking it’s thumb
Couldn’t see people as people
So much hate it was numb
Hate makes you
not see
Not feel
not hear
Not heal
not speak
Not seek
not taste,
The bitter the heart becomes
not feel,
The numbness of ignorance passed down
…you see…
racism makes you miss,
emotional milestones
spiritual milestones
human connection development milestones people teach it
and speak it
and pass it on and on
it’s like a kitten being taught it’s a fish now wouldn’t that be some ‘ish
Teaching that it is not even fair
the kitten will drown in the ocean the fish will drown in the air
It can’t breathe
when it’s not in the right element George could not breathe
With all that hatred and strife
Who taught Derek Chauvin
that his thinking was ok
because it cost America George’s life
Hate makes you
Not think
not seek
Not grow
not know
Not lead
not show
Not open
not close
the door to discrimination, you see to hate it’s an invitation
Be a sheep
Not bold
Keep your
Mouth closed
It’s a threat,
It’s intimidation,
It’s “follow the leader”
in a racist nation
The peer pressure of racism, That’s a pressure so tight it’s like a “white only” socialism you know that’s not right
From the 50 & 60’s
This country’s mentally messed up
We shouldn’t be here today
It’s 2020, what’s up?! (and tell your friends to pull up)
We made computers and cell phones
But America wasn’t growing
How could those 4 officers not be knowing 4 descendants: French Indonesian Irish Chinese How could you come to this country?
And turn your back against me?
Shame Shame
Shame on you
Each discriminated against
And this is what you do?
They say American is like a quilted blanket Somebody --- > bleached
Starched
Turned it into a white sheet
If you don’t grow -> from crawling, how can you walk If you don’t grow -> from mumbling, how can you talk
We put a man on the moon
But where’s the man in your mind
Who taught you to be evil?
Not loving and kind
Hate makes you
not teach
not preach,
that racism is wrong
that discrimination is ungodly
that profiling is a set up
for the mind to become messed up
Hate makes you stupid,
It makes you dumb
no more articulate words
look how low we’ve succumbed
If you pull out your wallet you get shot, What? If you go for a run you get popped, Really? If you concede hand up
You still get shot in the back
If you express yourself
killed in a cell
for talking? That’s wack
Hate takes the human out of you
It takes your mind
It says wrong is right
And says the truth is a lie
Hate makes you
not speak
Not seek
not teach
Not reach
not feel
Not heal
not pray
Not say
You’re going the wrong way Let’s turn this around today
Racism is taught
Stop teaching it
Racism makes you weak Stop seeking it
We have 5 senses
The human body is tight It is designed to tell us when things are not right
Hate makes you
Not think
not heal
Not speak
not tell
Not touch
not feel
Not sense
not smell
The stench of 200 + years of hate It’s an ugliness too bitter to taste
Hate makes you,
not wake
Not dream
not seek
Not seem
alive conscious or aware
of a live human being
That’s your own brother right there
Hate makes you
not see
Not be
Not you
Not me
Not US
Not we
WE can
not breath
This was not the UNITED States This was not HOME of the brave
So, let us be
…”We hold These things…” Let us open our eyes
And let us see
Let us talk
Let us hold
Let us walk,
Let us be bold
And let us be
the “U” and the “S”,
US, These UNITED States And THIS time,
for black people too
So let these birthing pains Turn into Growing pains
And may the REAL America Stand up
and
Be born again
