Rakim - Black Messiah lyrics

Love, respect, appreciation To the Black Messiah To the Black Panther Party, we salute It's God Rakim, let's go 1948, Chicago, Illinois, a young panther was born He became a man when he was just a little boy Excellent athlete, he excelled in the classroom too High supreme action speed, that's when his passions grew Racial injustices, poverty, slavery He went to college, studied law, then joined the NAACP A lot of bad things happened, people need to have answers Why should he keep asking? So he joined the Black Panthers Have a mission, known the system, invite, try to get all of them Fight capitalism, the socialism, fight fire with war The right cause, grow plan, that requires understanding The life course of a good man, the Black Messiah Fred Hampton Am I a good man (Am I a good man?) A good man Am I a good man? (Am I a good man) A good man Man had a lot of heart, some say a lot of nerves Man had a lot of smarts, the man with the million dollar words Led by example, righteous people wanna follow Take a special kind of man to, unite the gangs of Chicago Made 'em march in peace, become allies, soldiers Supervised the police, they brutalized and controlled us He wouldn't miss a lot of tricks, told them what he knew about law Informed them about politics, told them what he knew about war All races, one vision, the American activist Began the Rainbow Coalition, everybody thought Jackson did Genocide, a global bliss, poetry like a vocalist FBI's Most Wanted list, revolutionary socialist Am I a good man (Am I a good man?) A good man Am I a good man? (Am I a good man) A good man (Here we go) They can't take it no longer, he getting bigger by the hour Everyday getting stronger, the people give him more power Intelligent, disciplined, he can organize confusion Militant, different, he can recognize illusions Maybe overthrow the government, protest, riots Maybe even run for President, but who would want to keep him quiet? The informant's on the inside, he still seems unstoppable But this is always how our leaders die because they getting too powerful Like the barrel of a gun, crucified, he was only 21 Look at all the things he did in a short time Imagine all the things that he could've done If he could speak from the grave, Fred Hampton would say this: "You can kill a Black Panther, but the Panther still exists" This record is dedicated to the Chairman Fred Hampton May you rest in everlasting peace And to his family, his queen, Akua Njeri And his son, the Chairman Fred Hampton Jr Peace, love and respect