[Q-Tip:]
Ghetto child, ain't you tired?
Universe, ain't you tired?
Let's speak, let's speak on it
Yo, why we typecast into all this madness?
Humanity, ain't you tired?
[Talib Kweli:]
Yo, I keep a smile on my face, even when it's looking very grim
I think about them babies innocent like cherubim
I'm livin' in an era when
There is more black people owning things than it's ever been
In America. From small banks to big labels
Properties, and businesses even stations on cable
Still we're not able
To control the money
(There's) Swine still on the table
And ghettos across the country
Our babies stay hungry, but we got black senators in congress
That's the illusion of pro-gress
Gettin' hype when you see blacks on TV is plain dumb
When them cats don't understand where they came from
Let's get everybody's head nodding to the same drum
Then have conversations that cross generations
It's then and only then you will see
That these kids imitate images from the seventies
That's the decade we were born into
Conforming to
The code of the pimp and the playa, what you wanna do?
Call that man "Ghouli-ani"
Said, "We've got no clue", pro'bly
Forget about the Q-Tip's, Mos Def's, Talib Kweli's
The mind state of those before us seem pathetic
Got the nerve to say my generation apathetic
But I don't sweat it
I just choose to assist
Boo-hoo all you want, just continue to exist
Refuse any fact that's not actual
Resist anything that's not natural
Refuse to let the current situation worsen
Resist anybody's that disrespecting your person
Refuse to be afraid, it's only God you should fear
Resist the temptation to act like you don't care
It's a struggle out there
And we all feel the pressure
You say it's all good, I wanna make it all better
[Mos Def:]
They say that illegal business control America
The law man long arm is just a long barrell
There ain't a black butterfly
Black birds and sparrows, anything trying to fly
Their response to more black is more blue and more ammo
Check the local news channel
The commissioner, the defendent is kin
Another long winded lie again
Black folks gonna die again
When they say "we" they really mean us and them
The politics of division
Creating fresh revenue for prison
It's money, it's religion
They been running the same type of game
Since the slave holders settled the plane
It's very little remains
The capital gains
Control the domain
Closing the vain
So life can't circulate
Perpetrate the murder rate
Para military
Killin' Mary
That's the seed they sow
They gotta bleed to grow
But what they need to know
That what you reap
Is what you keep.
Payblack is better fruit to eat
It uproot the teeth
Enough to make the laughing [? ] stop smiling
They took him to the grave, but Lazarus was unsilent [x3]
[Q-Tip:]
Yo, yo, it's the doughnuts and coffee
That makes you too bossy
I really don't think you need to be walking the beat
And targeting civilians 'cause we're walking in the streets
Refrain from prejudice and refrain from eating sweets
Constitution's not made
Ffor multi-raced slaves
There's more than Amadu who found a way to early grave
Gonna keep on happenin' and
Police is packin' and
Giuliani's yappin' and
You know the process
Cops is drinkin' beer on the street's, relieve stress
Looking for the lucky Latino w/ black face
Keeping us inside a place
But it's not about race
Let 'em tell it. And a lot of y'all police is punks
Smackin' hustlers up and confiscating all their junk
Sellin' it back, scaring the cats into submission
Bustin' at the brothas 'cause we fit the description
Of the young and intelligent
Often wild talented
Ghetto child. Our dreams are snatched up w/ violence, kid
Gonna make you feel the pain if I can
It's the ordinary thing just a day for the man [x3]
[Talib Kweli:]
Refuse any fact that's not actual
Resist anything that's not natural
Refuse to let the current situation worsen
Resist anybody's that disrespecting your person
Refuse to be afraid, it's only God you should fear
Resist the temptation to act like you don't care
It's a struggle out there
And we all feel the pressure
You say it's all good, I wanna make it all better
