The Bitter Pill

We got it.

We're supposed to be seen and not heard.

We're supposed to deliver the money and never the words.

We're supposed to come crawling to you on our knees.

We're never supposed to know that word - free.

But every night I toss and turn, thinking over all the things I'm supposed to be and everything I'm not. Thinking about how many times I've seen the shooter and have nearly been shot. Most people wait till their dead to rot. This all just puts me in a tough spot.

Be intelligent but not too much - don't over shadow your counterparts, stay quiet and slow yeah that's a good start. Never ever let them know what you're thinking because that will get you killed and when the check comes to the table remember - your broke ass has to pay the bill.

No no...I get it

We're supposed to bide the time that we have for a moment we'll never get, supposed to obey and never use our free will and try to wait until everyone forgets.

We're supposed remain silent, we have that right, receive the bare minimum and swallow that bitter pill. Never ever put our hands up to defend ourselves or really fight. Be the catalyst to social ills.

Truth be told that pill is only bitter to you, while you sit here and try to force us to fit in your shoes. Don't you know it's our own destinies that we live our own lives that we choose.

Try as we might to get away from the lashes across our backs, you prove to us every day what this system, what this world, what its people and its leaders lack.

We got it...freedom ain't really free and the position we are assume will always be on our knees - but while I pray for peace with my head bent towards the son, you beat me and tell me he's not the only one. While I whisper my prayers to my savior, you punish me - try as you might to make me like you and try to condemn me for my behavior.

Won't it be a shock to the system and a gun to the head when I tell these people that - no racism is not dead. Racism lives on and on has been instilled in generations of us - and has succeeded because I longer want or need to be touched.

Has succeeded because we treat each other with such disdain, and I tell you now folks that it's not supposed to be this way. I'm not supposed to hate my fellow man and shy away from my brother and feel ashamed of the race of my mother while questioning the motives of my lovers.

(fist in the air)....brings them down to strike his own flesh and blood. (fist in the air).....brings them down to show force of strength - not in his family - but in his hood. (fist in the air)...brings them down to strike his woman, the one that stood beside you. (fist in the air).....brings them down on his elders that have already fought and have been bruised.

It worked - black/all lives mattered to those that fought to keep us free - but does it still matter to the likes of you and me?

It worked - "divide and conquer and they'll do the rest" - and that's all they needed to do to put us to the test.

It worked - we rally for shoes, video games and stand in line at the nearest buffet - but were you really meant and created to behave this way?

It worked - my how we come down on ourselves -  but people, we have always been specialized trophies on government shelves.

It worked...