And Then There Were None

They say that freedom is a constant struggle
A constant sorrow
A constant moaning, mourning, crying, dying
But these kids have been dying too often
A centuries old gospel
Talking about years and years of struggle
But singing is not going to fix this
And neither is praying
As long as this crawls under our skin
And runs our institutions
We all got used to this
Legalized violence
Of the police state we live in
Controlled and criminalized
Always under suspicion
Never innocent
Police brutality and harassment
Reminding us that freedom does not
Come for free

One shot, two choked, three struck out
Collateral of the war on drugs
"Sit back quietly"
"No need to disrupt the peace"
Four stopped, five popped
Six beaten down
"Stay at home"
"And out of the streets tonight"
There is a war on kids that have
Nothing to lose but these ancient chains

Fuck
It is time to show your true colors
So this is what the American dream is supposed to look like, right?
Our feed flooded with young bodies
Who lost their lives
At the hands of
A trigger-happy cop
Here to "protect and serve"
But whose agenda is he serving
When he is only trained to kill?
They shoot to kill
We have been waiting
With our hands up in the park, playing cops
Waiting
For the change we were promised
But has not come
We have been waiting
Through disappointment and disillusion
But I am done waiting
On more body bags
And more shootings
But you rather discuss the involvement
Of athletes in the protest movement
Whatever it takes to turn a blind eye
And conserve your safe bubble
Complaining that actually
"All lives should matter"
And when the media circus leaves town
And the quiet has been restored
You can go back to your empty life
Free of worry
But if next week another shooting makes
The morning news
Just remember that
There will be no sleep, no peace
Until we see justice