Living Costly

When I put my pen to the paper I let my mind go where my body hasn't been before

Writing is my outlet, I'm not too sure of all I have in store

But, I know I want a lot and they say it's going to cost me

Well, I've been broke all my life and that's never stopped anything from being costly

Simply existing in these conditions, my life it could cost me

Day to day activities become complex decisions

Should I go to the corner store? Will that raise suspicion?

If I do, I better not have a hood on because you know what they'll say

“He was black... in a hoodie.. must be a hoodlum up to his hood ways.”

It's a crime to be black while walkin'

The result is your name becomes another one we chant when we're marchin'

RIP Mike Brown! RIP Trayvon Martin!

That's all the ingredients they need to cook up the story

Treat us like trash and throw our bodies in a trash bag

Hoping our only reaction will be a hashtag,

Well, enough is enough and that ain't enough for me.

They ask "Why are ya'll always complaining?"

"You didn't have to deal with real issues like slavery... racism is dead, it's a new year."

Well, tell that to Oscar Grant who was killed on his mother's birthday

The first day of a "New Year"

Walking in the dark with this skin tone can be a doozie,

It's lights... camera... action!

Twenty shots, that's more than a full clip, Stephon Clarks death became a movie

Just a cell phone in his hand, but when you're black, a gun is all they do see

And the truth often gets lost in the typical argument

That my skin compliments the usual suspect

So don't ask me why we're upset and that we should protest peacefully

Because Kaepernick tried that and you refused to take a knee for me

Taking a knee cost Kap his last check

Instead you take a knee on a man's neck and cost George Floyd his last breath

I... can't... breathe, each murder is just gets harder, RIP Eric Garner

No longer will we remain silent as you kill our brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers

RIP Sandra Bland, who died trying to take a stand

Murdered in custody and while dead, for her mugshot, they tried to make her stand

When will everyone understand?

We say black lives matter because for centuries we've been given the underhand

We're not asking for an upper hand,

But that you please extend the other hand when injustice takes place

Black skin stirs up so many emotions,

Ask yourself "why?" But don't continue to blame the hurt ones for the commotion

Instead, educate yourself... read a book... listen

Join the revolution that is already in motion.