Financial Leprosy
We got to get up
And wait in line
For the soup, toilets
And things to read
Fill out 11-0-1's
And take a seat
But then we got to
Find a place to sleep
We got to lay down
upon newspaper, cardboard
Concrete, and plastic sheets
Effects of "Eighties" public policy
We used to buy
Full shopping carts
And buy useless products
Trained to drain
Not to remain
Red line economy
"I have a dream"'s reality
Self effacing and mirror hating
the ethnic notions and potions
But I still smell bad
Skin fader and tanning booths
in conjunction with their plastic b**bs
And diet pills
ALL MEANS TO ATTRACT AND DISTRACT
Designer gla**es to se designer clothes
Designer cologne to wave under a designer drug nose
that sniffs through the perfume scented
Magazines
Try to make sense out of dollars
Often heard of, rarely seen
as an ear listens to the dial phone
That I know I can't afford
Well I used to own this street
Now I'm living on Market Street
Self effacing and mirror hating
the ethnic notions and potions
But I still smell bad
Skin fader and tanning booths
in conjunction with their plastic b**bs
And diet pills
ALL MEANS TO ATTRACT AND DISTRACT
Thieves generating revenues
Lottery poverty tax
Druglords and
Landlords
And "praise the lords"
They prey upon us
How did they ever
Manufacture consent
A meal in every trashcan
Myth of the "Happy Hobo"
COINTELPRO (COunter INtelligence PROgram)
The Cosby Show
Why did the they cut the Pell
Grant, so they can build cells
Ten years in prison
But no tenure at the University
IS this ethnic diversity?
Or is it public policy
Self effacing and mirror hating
The ethnic notions and potions
But I still smell bad
Skin fader and tanning booths
in conjunction with their plastic b**bs
And diet pills
ALL MEANS TO ATTRACT AND DISTRACT
Chemical bullets
Aimed at the Afro-Diaspora
A genocidal ghost
Manipulates a suicidal host
And as high technology
eliminates the need for manual labor
Mercedes-Benz logos replace peace signs
on the necks of our youth
Self effacing and mirror hating
The ethnic notions and potions
But I still smell bad
Skin fader and tanning booths
in conjunction with their plastic b**bs
And diet pills
ALL MEANS TO ATTRACT AND DISTRACT