Village

When a child is born they have no sense of direction

The only thing they understand is their unique perception

Parents can do their best, but even so, all the while

They can only do so much; it takes village to raise a child

So what does the village offer the youth of today?

Can you really say the environment is safe for children to play?

Do you take pride in the dangers that surround you everyday?

Or are you another victim of the village’s disarray?

They say we’re products of our environment

Pawns on assignment, freely allowed to live in America’s confinement

Bound to do the bidding of the places we are raised in

Feeding off the violence that will destroy our generations

Young eyes are not yet open to the system that we live in

A system born of hatred that exist for our extinction

To trigger the mind, to trigger a gun

What a web this village has spun

It’s kind of funny how we revel in the wonders of gold and money

The music isn’t fulfilling, turning heroes into villains

The air is corrupt, and still here we raise our children

Everybody’s scared, man what happened to the hope

When everybody’s dead it’s cause we tied our own ropes

And you wonder why our people just revert to selling dope

Because the road to one yes is plagued with a million noes

To live in a society where my life ain’t a priority

Because I don’t fit their proprieties they show me their authority

If I see my generation getting slaughtered by the Feds

that just tell me that the next generation already dead

Losing more people now than we did when we were slaves

And you call this land free? This is the home of the brave

They say I’m moving too fast, but do I need a pace?

so many individuals, do I have a race?

You call yourself an artist, but tell me where your art is

Every song about the money, so that tells me where your heart is

Just think of how strong we’ll be when we don’t break each other down

When we lift up our people, when there isn’t so much doubt

Now we see the light, a cultural rebirth

The first will be last, and the last will be, first

The meek shall inherit the earth

But until then I’ll let him take me higher so I’m not left in the dirt

It’s the pain of our backs lashed, that caused a backlash

Took the rain like a cold bath, but where’s the sun at?

Some people still don’t know how to act, but at least the hope’s back

They held us down for so long, but now we got facts

Kings and queens without crowns

So they try to shoot us down

All because my skin just happens to be Michael Brown

Parents can do their best, but even so, all the while

We must better our village, to better the child