Can You Hear the Cries?

Exceptional men will prevent the negro race from perishing 

Alas all Negroes must cater to the Talented Tenth 

Protect the superior of the race and educate them to 

Avoid the lifestyles of those better off dead.

So, shall we begin the reconstruction era?

1863 to the common era.

1877 did not mark the end since although one can see the Whites sleeping, 

Black America still yearns for healing.

Blind under impressions that the Talented Tenth like Kanye West can lead our youth.

As he empowered the North, yet supports the South,

Chillin’ out maxing relaxing up in the white house.

Cheering on those who wanted to end his route.

Leave it up to some and we will never triumph. 

As they allow the rich to get richer and the poor to get in a slump

For the White people to go unfiltered and the coloreds to learn their place

Or play the game.

So, while the parents of young Black boys coddle their sons,

The media feeds them NFL and basketball dreams

Notions of money and fame and tons

With the intentions of getting them deep in debt like Iverson

Just how the system wanted him.

Like a whiteboard, these executives will clear the record of every player of the right tone -

Hiding up their scandals as if they had none.

Yet, each brown man has his sins branded on his forehead.

Kaepernick he's banished since they saw him kneeling for his rights in peaceful protest.

Some people can only see a Black person as alarming - even if they obtain a lighter complexion. 

Cause whether

Light skin or mixed skin oppression still sees a negro.

And so, it goes let the rain fall. 

Liberty cries as Black America dies. 

Take two with Washington instead of Dubois!

Maybe this time we can get like Kendrick and make it alright. 

Let's prioritize work instead of an education,

And finally, give the nine-tenths some overdue attention.

Where they can learn a craft and join the family business

Until they no longer own the opportunity to thrive

As the legal system wants them incarcerated

Serving life. 

At times for offenses as trivial as weed affairs

Or for crimes that in general are not theirs to bare.

Hone in on the exonerated Central Park five 

People petitioning kids 14 to 16 to die. 

Ads in the newspaper influencing the public 

To hate on teens who did not even do nothing. 

My country tis of thee

Do you even hear me

Wailing for liberty?

Trying to find freedom but freedom ain't free.

Don't you see?

They out here killing people like Atatiana Jefferson -

A concerned auntie

Yet they call out all lives matter but who cares about me

And mine.

Even when waging wars, we're civil. 

Not looking for domination, just to be treated equal.

And they never meet us halfway 'cuz they don't want niggers

In their America if they are not enslaved.

So, they must make America great again

By instilling us with fear and self-hatred,

Because you will not ever be good enough for them.

Making Black women feel as if they are undesirable.

They want all our features but not the women behind it.

Zendaya's plaited hair means she smells like a reefer. 

Build a body Jenner incites hashtags claiming White girls do it better.

She wears hoops and no longer do my earrings equate to being a hoe.

Yet, you know how it goes since when a Black girl is a Black girl, she gets deemed trashy and ghetto yet,

A white girl exploits Black culture, and she equals an iconic classic retro.

Though Black women have led movements defending minorities as a whole because due to their intersectionality their emancipation means liberation for all, 

But who riots for them when they get left out in the cold?

Were we not all supposed to be sisters, siblings, and brothers while

The so-called Women's March overlooks the abducted and missing girls of color? 

After ma sistas spent their energy marching for everyone's voice to get heard,

Only people who look like them congregating to find them -

That spoke louder than words! 

As does Black men stereotyping and demonizing Black women and thinking they made it as soon as they get a White girl, 

When a Black woman's womb gave them a portal to the world 

Have your preference,

But do it without the disrespect

Because you still only view us as a costume and the punchline in your comedy act.

The plead for unity is real as we can't let ourselves be demised. 

Since liberty cries as Black America dies.

Written: November 28, 2019