Hands High

Just when you think we're getting past it...
We're going right back at it 
Like a nightmare that you thought was gone
It reappears like it was magic
Is this travesty an act of a miscarriage of justice
Or just a knee-jerk reaction to distrust
A system never meant to protect us?

It's us against them...
But is it "us" or is it "them"?!
'Cause sometimes I'm Trayvon...
Sometimes I'm Mike...
Sometimes I'm Zimmerman...
Sometimes I'm Wilson...

At times I'm Malvo
Ducked low in a blue Chevy Caprice
Manipulated by my own kind
To go a pick up a piece

Our peace of mind is assailed
In a hail of bullets 
Another young one in ground
Never knowing life to the fullest
And foolspeak that follows
In the aftermath of a disaster -

How exactly should a native son 
Get over the fact
That he's being treated 
Like a bastard?

They tell me that my views
Are from another time and place
Yet I'm the same color...
In the same country...
And it's still all about race

And unless the Lord's grace intervenes
We'll never make it to the finish
Of a long-running history
That never seems to diminish

Remember: the anger of men 
Will never produce godly righteousness
But the righteousness of Christ 
Is the only reason I fight for this -
Liberty and justice 
From a corruptness
That has plagued us 
In his absence;
From rulers that wield the sword in vain
To the masses that give way to the malice

He drank from wrath's chalice
And took on the sins of Adam
So those who bear the mark of Cain
Can one day enter the heavenly palace

A King's dream finally realized
"One Nation Under God" reimagined
Guns down and hands high
As the final enemy is moving backwards

"Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:5-7 ESV

Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

"Nigga"

“…Negro's, black as Cain,

May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.”  -  Phillis Wheatley

The nigga on the right

Hates the nigga on the left

And the niggas at the top

Are puttin' niggas on the shelf

Some niggas have it all

And they hoard all of their wealth

Other niggas are doin' what they can

And make the most of what's left

 

One nigga says

Another nigga's skin is too dark

And when that nigga disagrees

It's like igniting a spark

Everything goes dark

And that's the way it all starts

Now niggas are on a mission

To tear those niggas apart

 

Sellin' niggas like they're stock

Dead a nigga for his guac

If that nigga needs a ride

Then that nigga better walk

(Or sell rocks)

 

Front row niggas

Holdin' backseat niggas

To a much lower standard

Ignoring what they're seein'

In the mirror

 

Inferior niggas

With their fingers on the trigger

Accomplices to the nonsense

As a nigga's sense of worth

Begins to wither

So it figures…

Little niggas drawing pictures

Of a living hell

They've got nothin' to go home to

So what's left for a nigga...

But a cell?

 

But just beyond the pale

Is a cross and three nails

Where niggas, long ago, set up for failure

Find the good for what ails 'em

The race war that's been ragin'

Was long before us finished

To redeem us from our niggardly ways

And grant salvation to the chiefest of niggas

 

(cf. Numbers 12:1-10; Jeremiah 13:23; Proverbs 20:9; Romans 3:19, 23; 11:32; Galatians 3:22; Revelation 5:9-10)

 

Soli Deo Gloria,

Shon

Walking While Black (Death In a Florida Suburb)

This is 2012, not 1962
But you’d be hard pressed to believe that
After hearin’ what it’s come to;
Walking while black
Meets unwarranted frustrations
Masquerading as vigilance
And shaking us to the roots as a nation

Old wounds run deep
Hatred ain’t sacred – it sees no color
Having Obama in office,
You may think would make it calmer
But unless you’ve been asleep
You know that it’s still very possible
To die for being a “brotha”
Skittles in tote, talking to your girl
In the cool of a Florida day
Then an SUV pulls up hot
‘Cause you ain’t gettin’ away with it…no doubt
One to the chest
Young life, snuffed out…

Now, you don’t have to be in the ‘hood
To have your peace disturbed
This ain’t Compton or Dade County
This is straight outta the suburbs
You heard me?!
Justice system failin’ ‘em
Freed the guy for nailin’ ‘em
Showed a blatant disregard to protect and serve
And label the victim as the assailant
It feels like a long time since
The days of civil rights and Jim Crow
It seems a million miles away
But we still have a long way to go

By that, I mean it’s too easy to point to the past
And make “White America” hold the ledger
Hey, the first time I was called a “nigga”
It rolled off the tongue of a six year old Latina –
So I know better

This ain’t about black and white
This thing is life on life
Good v. Evil, and death stealin’ youth
Like a thief in the night
So if you feel like I do
And you’re lookin’ for a fight
Then turn your anger inward
And rage against the dying of the light
Fight the good fight
Don’t let your hearts grow dimmer
“Street Justice” accomplishes nothin’
(Just another coward pullin’ the trigger)
Believe me, there will come a day
When recompense is made
And God don’t sleep
So I rest assured in justice
Never holding on to hate
Love has gotta be stronger than our fear
That there’s no end in sight
So, even amidst the travesty
That we all now bemoan
I know that this too shall be made right


For Trayvon Martin.


"And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place..."  

- (Acts 17:26 ESV)

"Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body."  - 

(Hebrews 13:3 ESV)

Soli Deo Gloria,

Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)