Injustice

My son's name is Michael Justice Ajani Sterling
Michael after his grandfather, not to mention Jordan, Jackson, and Tyson
See, he came out fighting
Cause nowadays, little black boys don't get no justice

Instead, they get profiled, stereotyped, devalued, and taken from us
Now, take it from us
That ain't no way to live
An existence less than tentative, walking on bullet shells, still wearing bibs

Went from killing our leaders to killing our kids
Oh, what a privilege it is, or must be, not to have to relate
Misguided and misinformed, watch how complicity makes way for hate, while pigment or Class
Helps the fortunate to better insulate

It's been going on for years, but only now is it a topic for national debate
When Facebook revolutionaries are talking about, share this meme, video, or photo before
It's too late
It's funny though, how one's fate can depend solely on the irrational fear prejudice plus

Power assigns to each individual's face
But we're the ones tripping, huh
Asking for it and preoccupied with race or some kind of unjustified angst
Stop it
I can't breathe or reach my skittles swinging at the playground playing with my new toy
Pistol
See, I can't help but to feel like you're missing the issue
Then again, this really ain't about you

Your ability to empathize or be more precise when you generalize
Nor is it my responsibility to make you confront the error in your own lives or comfort you
Just because you walked with a few signs
Stop posing for pictures and open your eyes

Actually open your ears and let in the cries
And please put away this popular post-racial propaganda that populates my timeline
We talked about the injustice of how he died in hashtag Black Lives Matter or Still I Rise
Then you reply all lives matter

Stop trying to divide
Worry about gangsters and black on black crime
Now that's fine
Though unrelated and an intellectual waste of time

Because it's not at all unique in comparison to the scale of white on white crime
Not to mention, I thought we held police to a higher standard than everyday citizens who
Actually get prosecuted and later held accountable for their crimes
No, not this time
I see, I see
The prison industrial complex was created for folk that look like me
I got it

I guess you could say I just take issue with our strategy
Reluctant to recycle the tactics of yesterday
As if the enemy is not prepared, protected, and more concerned with today
Far from frightened by our marches, riots, and fledgling displays of solidarity
Especially while the settler state controls the media and how we are portrayed
No, no, no shade
However I'm a little ambivalent about what I see on the news and the internets
Some think these protests are amazing

And others, pointless
Some wanted to boycott Black Friday while others saw that as useless
Some actually believed that if we put our hands up and yelled, don't shoot, they'd listen
And decide not to abuse us
Others still even more clueless maintain this is the same as Claudette fighting for a seat
On the bus
Thus, advocate for non-violence, walkouts, die-ins, and wait
For the right one to represent Us

Then, there are those more inclined to mistrust like when my father was a Panther they Just
Shot back and shouted y'all ain't finna whoop us
Yup, a lot of people like the way that sound
Except the people who argue it's the government instigating a race war
To get troops on The Ground

Which would mean previously there was some form of peace going around but who Knows
Nevertheless, what are you gonna do when the National Guard runs up in your town and Youngsters
Come up missing
Tell me, is that really how it's gonna go down
Is that why the Patriot Act was written
Now I know how them Patriots gonna act but who all gets to be a citizen
Sounds a little suspect when anyone can be a suspect or should I say domestic subject

But maybe I'm just trippin'
Or maybe I'm just upset that so many of our brothers and sisters, that's right, ancestors
End up in the street bleeding
Beyond the pathos of a mother grieve and I'm past perplexed at what I'm seeing
It's a targeted extermination of a select group of human beings
In fact, one could even argue that it's dangerous just to be black but how do we respond And
Not react
How do we move forward and not back

How do we come together and stay on track
Unity, I understand is the collective opportunity to ignore difference and strategically build
Community
Yet some might say there is no such thing and that there are better ways to organize Complex formations of Identity but then that's all theory and doesn't account for what Transpires
When the person with the gun is afraid of me
See I also heard it said that all cops aren't bad and all whites aren't racist
Well since we're stating the obvious not all accusations are baseless and not all Systematic

Structures of racism are faceless but as we know absolutes seldom lead to winning Statements
And tactics like those merely deflect genuine engagement as well as reflecting ignorance
Of the cases, their own subject position and what race is
And then there are people who don't like living in a police state and feel caged but don't

Mind patrolling and policing what you post on your page
Enraged if they see you're not doing your part
As if awareness alone is where we end and not start
And it breaks my heart
We've got problems but no solutions and instead of an active and involved revolution it Seems
We've gladly accepted comments or likes as our virtual substitution
So I ask what are we doing
But I ain't got all the answers like Kanye told Sway just disturbed by the injustices

Of our day and some of the things some people had to say
So I sift through several circular and shallow arguments to clear the way for some critical
Thinking to go ahead and take place
However I got good news and that's that my God is a just God which means if you're a Christian you're allowed to Do more than just pray but turn the other cheek is what you
Say without the proper Jewish context and sloppily applied to the day
But hey he ain't calling us to be no fool when the Bible says to die daily it's a metaphor
Don't mean just let him kill you or turn a blind eye

Hide behind your faith and oversimplify get scared and not try blame the victim would
Just comply
See I care when you ask why
Did you think it was just my enemies
Hardly I got a license to love my people too
Hardly because fighting racialized oppression ain't nothing new
It's something Moses, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther all went through
It wasn't an apostle Paul who said he'd rather be cursed for his people's sake and Jesus

Didn't he rush to the cross to get his hands dirty not worried about the rust on the stakes
Yes I believe so
So whatever it takes I'm gonna act and fight for my people to be treated equal until he
Gets back
That's my pact
Actually I'm gonna make a plaque that reads my son's name is Michael Justice Ajani Sterling
Ajani is West African for he who wins a struggle and his mother and I weren't referring to
No mere scuffle

See this boy, this boy's gonna be humble but dedicated to the destruction of injustice
And watching it crumble
Sterling well that's the clan and the plan is that he grows in wisdom and stature and
Actually makes it to become a man
His name is a prayer and now we end where we first began with justice