Ayesha Says

Hijabs, hoodies, afros, locks

Teddy bear, liquor bottle shrines, rocks

Tanks, prayer rugs, church pews, Mexican corn stands

Blood, sweat, and tears, police batons

Gas masks and bullets create graffiti on corners

Murals that salute freedom or death for liberty

Be it Inglewood or Egypt, Bedstuy or Baghdad

Syria or Liberia, the west bank or the west side of Chicago

Where food and liquor stores still occupy the block

While police and community watchmen justify why they shot

Emmit Till and Malice Green, Rekia Boyd and Trayvon Martin

Better not wear that hoodie while shopping for a carton

Or whatever they sellin in your food desert

Cause your soul is dessert and will be dissected and consumed

On the Fox evening news while we sing the blues

The new Jim Crow caged bird sings

Cause he's tired of occupying his misery and of our marching

He wanna fly to a higher consciousness

But his school on academic probation

They gave him medicine, diagnosed him with a felony and mental retardation

So he refuses to cease the firin, nobody's hirin

In Illinois, 67 is the new age when you retirin

Class lines have blurred, those who used to have, have not

Pensions bein snatched

Those who never have keep their hands stretched

Social services being cut

Sterilization clinics giving out pills to numb the womb

Young girls referring to their vaginas as tombs

Thinkin protests are temporary and trendy

Well rock a t-shirt and carry a poster

And two weeks later it's back to normal

But they say times are changin'

The revolution is becoming second nature, causes are combining

People carrying torches, hope burning from their hands

Attaching explosive devices cause they keep stealing their lands

In the name of freedom