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