Rodney King took a beating in 1991
Hold on, dear friends, we’ve just begun
1999, Diallo wasn’t the rapist
Took 41 bullets, too bad he was Haitian
was just selling cigarettes-
Trayvon Martin, just newly 18
Walter Scott was killed in 2015
For a broken tail light, no taser was seen
And Freddie Gray died alone
Pleading for help, injury
Philando Castille was too close to home
Young eyes were watching, he was not alone
So too, Jamar Clark, in handcuffs, by police
Bystanders were filming the entire scene
Don’t forget Anthony, an Air Force vet
He was naked and scared, and we’re not done yet
Breonna Taylor, Tamir Rice so many names
Oscar Grant, Fruitvale, on the BART train
Say them out loud, they don’t sound the same
Antwon Rose, Sean Reed and De’von Bailey
People of color murdered daily.
And now George Floyd, the kind, gentle giant
Accused of a crime, albeit non-violent
The police became his judge and his jury,
His executioners were in an awful big hurry
To end the life of a person of color
He was our friend, and our partner, our brother
On Memorial Day, the police decided,
The rule of law does not apply
Minneapolis, where kindness is rooted
I awoke to the sting of smoke in my eyes
Hoping the powers that be would realize
Than Emmett Till, his poor mother
An open casket for Emmett
He was lynched, beaten, thrown in the river
And we wonder if this is something to fix
Something broken, not working, turn a screw, grab a hammer
It goes all the way back to ships filled with
Black sisters and brothers
And trails of tears and Pearl Harbor
On and on and on it goes farther
Come together, they said,
We’ll get through it, we will
We social distanced, quarantined and masked and yet still…
Those people on the other side of your screen, they have no idea,
they cannot see what we see.
It is not his blackness that caused him to die
It was racist, white nationalists with law on their side
What then, dear reader, what should we do?
Murdered and jailed and demonized too
Sing kumbaya while six feet apart?
Hold signs, boycott, make peaceful art?
Yes, dear friends, that’s a very good start,
And if that fails, take it all apart
Like MLK said, riots are the cry
Of an unheard minority, why?
We vote and we care for our city with heart
And yet it is OUR lives torn apart
Unless and until we see a sea change
The unrest will continue, yes we will rage
Because the sight of Emmett was not so scary
