Black lives matter, thanks for your concern
For 400 years, from birth to the urn
Equality was written, not something to be earned
Pretending to be black, is something to be spurned
If pity be the party, then go play somewhere else
Historically the lynching, the insults and the belts
Humiliation, beatings, the begging and the welts
Catch the flag of Liberty before the Statue melts
Opportunity divided with the color of your skin
The government claimed equality with promise and a grin
Then segregation followed, to cast the vote and win
The sacrifice, not victory, downtrodden and chagrined
No path to education, they’ll never get a choice
The leaders that had anger, yet peace was in their voice
All hopes and dreams were shattered, one shot, some heard, rejoiced
The statue built in effigy, remarks were so adroit
Be careful how your greeted, yeah, walk across the street
The fear, innate, inside of you, with handshakes as you meet
Despite the fame and money, climb the ladder in defeat
“I’m just a different color,” not a human to be beat
And all the inside politics on both sides of the aisle
Cast your vote, we’ll help you, disdaining all the while
Surely you are innocent, but still you’ll be on trial
You’re black, you must be guilty, appeals we’ll surely file
There is no common decency, democracy turned its back
Four years after four more, the country ‘bout to crack
The pundits, white, and liberal, prepare the same attack
While right-wing and their media, just couldn’t give a jack
It can’t be true, who says, politically correct
They’re African American, take pause and genuflect
That’s not what they are saying, take time and please reflect
They just want to be heard, be proud, and stand erect
One would say, “just a movement,” it’s all lives that do matter
It’s here we live, the USA, their lives, war torn and shattered
Reparations, not suffice, while children grow in tatters
So listen what is being said, be fair, is what they’re after
And after all the murders in the hope of future days
With faith in God’s forbearance, that love will pave the way
That justice will be satisfied and one day, truly say
That black lives really mattered, was not a game to play