Malcolm London - Charlie lyrics

[Intro] Soldiers, don't give yourselves to brutes, men who despite you and slave you, who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel, who drill you, tire you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts. You are not machines! Your are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts, you don't hate, only the unloved hate [Verse 1] It's hard to know yourself when you ain't got a job I got headaches you can't treat with no Tylenol Seen a lot of rainbows with no pot of gold Tried to run away from home never learned to crawl [Hook] Ooh, I'm a black boy, targets on my back, boy Three strikes comin' better go and get your bat, boy Face up on the blackboard, don't you know it Slavery is back, boy, go on and get your pa**port [Verse 2] Can you see a difference between a white hood or a badge? This my middle finger to the Ku Klux Klan I got arrested and almost died and I'd do it again I'd rip solar systems down just to give them to kids I'm a one man band, one man army, rapper Bob Marley Revolution in my one hand tryna buy Ferraris Yea I messed up, but it's messed up Papa taught me to clean my mess up But who gon' teach these politicians To stop kickin' it with their legs up? What if Jesus was a n***a from the Middle East With a bomb strapped to his chest to bring peace? And when it exploded it rewarded everyone With the American Dream What if insomia was the cure to an illusion Bill Nye The Science Guy solution Dave and Goliath not a storybook But how poor people came to conclusions [Hook] Ooh, I'm a black boy, targets on my back, boy Three strikes comin' better go and get your bat, boy Face up on the blackboard, don't you know it Slavery is back, boy, go on and get your pa**port [Interlude] We could be free and beautiful but we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned mens souls, has barricaded the world with hate. Has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical, our cleverness hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity [Verse 3] Picture this: who k**s Laquan McDonald more An officer, a jail cell or McDonalds stores? Donald Duck, Donald Trump We leaving racism in the Devil's trunk Deflated, like Tom Brady bunch What if they called Jesus a terrorist cause he cared a bit? They called me a terrorist cause I cared a bit City on gridlock but I care for it Even on a dark night I care for Gotham What if the genesis of Jena Six was just forgotten? (We need kindnedd and gentleness) What if we had the kindness of Mary Poppins And everytime gay people wanted to got married We didn't pop in And in the future you could really do what you want When you poppin' or if you're popular What if everything good was the opposite? [Hook] Ooh, I'm a black boy, targets on my back, boy Three strikes comin' better go and get your bat, boy Face up on the blackboard, don't you know it Slavery is back, boy, go on and get your pa**port [Verse 4] History is written by the victors But history is made by those who live without restrictions I'm Easter ready but I'm not here to get dressed up I'm resurrecting the d**h of the Panthers Mike Brown is back for Christ's sake, put your hands up You could go on and put your hands up But my heart is too big for my ego They tried to turn me into a hero But heroes die young and I want this sh** forever But best believe if I die, I won't die with my hands up [Hook] Ooh, I'm a black boy, targets on my back, boy Three strikes comin' better go and get your bat, boy Face up on the blackboard, don't you know it Slavery is back, boy, go on and get your pa**port [Outro: Christian Jalon] Look what they do to my sisters and brothers My anger is righteous And they're paving the streets with our blood And they want us to keep quiet And keep the peace, but I'm tired And we're gonna rise up And we're gonna shut them down We're gonna rise up And we're gonna shut them down And power to my people, right on, right on And power to my people, right on, right on And power to my people, right on, right on And power to my people, right on, right on