We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools...MLK Intro Chorus:
For us to get united, think spirit—say it again
For us to save our dignity, we must try to forgive
Character content, that's it—say it again
This is that cause to die for so that we can live This little ditty starts about grade K
I was at the state fair, I remember the day
I was s**in' on Slurpee I had in my face
Then smack, it splattered all over the place I could feel the sting on my nose and cheeks
To find out what happened I looked up to see
Three kids older, different color than me
They held fly swatters still ready to swing I could tell that those kids just wanted to fight
But I didn't want that, I just wondered why...But
Before I could wonder, I was quickly told why
That the you knows did it to me just because I was light Now I don't know how that was all about race
I just know what happened had left me in a state
Thank God I'd heard about that man M-L-K
I felt him back then, I feel him more to-day As we grew up, we were pretty much friends
Yet I was taught by my elders that there was a difference
The difference they were talking about was based on skin
Felt the presence of the devil when they were talk-in' No problems I knew 'til high school came
'Til that sunny day brought in a storm of acid-rain
Guys started pushin' me, talkin' about skin
Messin' up my hair, pushin', laughin' Callin' me a kind of boy, guys I thought were friends
All done without cause, my faith was shaken
But lookin' back, I can see what happened
An elder of my friends must have started talkin' Must have opened their eyes to the light man's sin
Now there's plenty of that, I've lived it firsthand
It comes from our elders and the tele-vision
When identity is skin, it serves to spread the beast within Break:
Not long after I was talkin' with a gal
One who I liked, who only saw me as a pal
She said that she was goin' with the guy who pushed me down
Then I used that one word and it got around
What never got around was it was said in response
To a bigoted attack when I had done nothin' wrong
I forgave and said I'm sorry to everybody and their Mom
But it didn't matter, hate kept marching on Despite that tit for tat, I tried to keep faith
Faced off with that Stepdad for spreadin' the hate
That day we were sittin', watchin' T-V
That Stepdad wasn't much for diversity That Stepdad said that one word and I asked him to stop
But he kept on sayin' it 'til I made him stop
I grabbed him by his sweatshirt just below his chin
Jerked him from the chair "Don't ya (pop-pop) say it again!" When Mom came in cryin', I let go of him
Another explosion based solely on skin
Such words just spread division, no matter who uses them
Mental walls of ma** destruction, no one's innocent A raging alcoholic, my soul wasting away
Hip Hop thumpin' loud in my ears all day
It's what kept me alive, but I was haunted by the hate
It reminded me of Stepdad and the things he used to say Stepdad comes from fear and hate, Rap's from real pain
But the gun talk and the racial pride hits me about the same
And the talk of revolution, like that'll set things straight
Don't blink before you know it, there'll be no U-S-A Words of that Stepdad echoed in my head
"You better get wise boy, they really want you dead"
My bob-along thought, "my heroes really want me dead?"
"You better learn to shoot a gun for your own self-defense?"
Those cold thoughts resounded in me
I searched for some soul, some shared humanity
Yet everywhere I turned, just hate hara**ing
When the Bible says we're one blood, one humanity When I get free, it's plain as day to see
How the media's always stirring up some controversy
Just to break us up by gender, creed and ethnicity
Those opinion polls are phony, they just tell us what to think Yeah, those in charge put forth a nice face
But they trap us in our skin when they remind us of our race
It's done to distract, while things are put in place
The finishing touches on new police state If I offended any good-willed people, I apologize right now. That was not my intent. But we are being played against each other. We need to forget about race and follow the money. Now that'll get us somewhere... Chorus Outro: (2x)
For us to get united, think spirit—say it again
For us to save our dignity, we must try to forgive
Character content, that's it—say it again
This is that cause to die for so that we can live