D.Greaves

Well Veresed. Never Rehearsed.

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    PROBABLE CAUSE

    At the age of 14
    I was Hip-Hoppin
    2 the yes yes y'all
    When I heard about the arrest
    Of Mumia Abu-Jamal
    Conflicting voices inside my brain
    Cound'nt coincide
    With Abu-Jamal being in jail
    And a cop who died

    Fam, even THEN
    I didn't listen
    2 emotional tirades
    Be they Pro or Con
    I figured God gave me a pretty good brain
    2 rely upon
    So,
    For a year I researched
    Case after case
    All I was left with was a feeling
    Of fear and disgrace
    As far as that fateful night?
    The TRUTH may never come 2 light
    That's what happens when
    A revolutionary and a Police Officer
    Are in each other's sights
    2 further my education
    I went 2 rallys
    Both Pro and Con
    At Pro Faulkner joints I
    Was called a sell out
    At Pro Mumia joints I
    Was spat apon
    I remember thinkin
    DAMN!
    Do these opposing sides
    Really give a damn
    About the Voice of. A People
    On Death Row
    And a widow
    Without her man!

    In 1983
    A city
    Was on the racial divide
    Black and white
    On different sides
    And while me and my homeys
    Was B-Boy Stylin
    We got a first hand taste
    Of Racial Profiling

    Lincoln University
    Located in an area
    Not exactly known 4 its diversity
    2 be geographic
    IT IS WAAYYYYY DAYUMM OVER YONDER!
    A Historically Black College
    In the middle of a sea of white?
    Heeyyyy..no need 4 me 2 ponder
    I was 2 busy gettin
    Fresh
    Last thing on my mind
    Was angry cops and an arrest
    The D.J. was rockin
    We was pop lockin
    And the ladies was sooo fine
    It was shockin
    Man I turned 2 my boy Keith
    And said. YO WHAT A NIGHT!
    But on the long way home
    U guessed it
    FLASHING LIGHTS!
    The Officers asked
    Who y'all be
    We said we're from Philly
    Just came back from a party
    At the University
    And one cop smiled
    OH...S--T!
    One cop said
    I SMELL A JOINT
    Now Fam!
    Lemme ask You point 2 Point!
    DO U THINK WE WERE THAT STOO-PID!
    Matter of fact
    I checked all my boys
    Before we rolled
    They just laughed and called me
    Malcolm Soul
    Heyyy..that's kool
    But I. Was NEVER A FOOL
    I was just standing there
    scared as hell
    Thinkin
    What am I gonna tell Mom and Pop
    Lost in my thoughts
    Little did I realize
    I was staring at one of the cops
    He said
    BOY YA BETTA STOP THAT EYEBALLIN
    Man..I shoud've known better
    BUT I heard Malcolm callin
    He went 2 start a search
    And I said
    EXCUSE ME SIR
    A Hunch WITHOUT evidence
    Of illegal activity
    Be it sight
    Smell
    Or admission of guilt
    is NOT Probable Cause
    I wish there was more
    Of that night I could expound upon
    But my memory is kinda hazy
    One second Black Pride
    The next...BLACK BATON!
    CRRASSHHH!
    Did that incident make me hate cops?
    Nah..I AM NOT THAT STOO-PID!
    BUT
    I will admit
    Far as RACISM GOES
    That Hoooo..can
    (Expitive deleted due 2 respect 4 sensitive ears)
    But...it rhymes with SICK

    Fast forward
    To 2010
    Mumia is back in the news
    2 new documentaries
    BARRELL OF A GUN
    And
    JUSTICE ON TRIAL
    I thought wow..
    My research on that subject
    Is hazy
    It's been a while
    The way I figure
    Why accept half of the loaf
    Let me go a peep both
    WHAT!
    PROTESTS
    ARRESTS
    SHOUTING
    POUTING
    Just like 1981
    Hell..Justice isn't on trial
    It's at the Barrell of a Gun
    DID HE OR DIDN'T HE
    Bro..I don't know
    But with each passing year
    It just goes to show
    Hatred is palnt
    That requires very little light
    2 grow
    Matter of fact
    All hatred really needs
    IS PROBALE CAUSE
    Right here I gotta pause
    My head hurts every once and a while
    Y'all know me thru my work
    I think EVERYTHING black is in style

    EXCEPT....A black BATON
    And a cop who ONLY sees...BLACK

    GOOD PEOPLE
    BAD PEOPLE
    GOOD COPS
    BAD COPS
    A pretty simple equation
    No Probable Cause needed 2 figure that one out

    Peace

     

    Creative Commons License
    All Poetry by D.Greaves/Darwin Greaves by D.Greaves-Darwin Greaves is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
    Based on a work at dgreaves.posterous.com.
    Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://dgreaves.posterous.com/pages/dgreaves-tos.

    • 21 December 2010
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    Thanks for stopping by and visiting my site. I hope you enjoy the poetic works shared here.Please feel free to leave a comment and subscribe. You can also find me on Facebook under Darwin Greaves. While there, stop by and like my fan page. Listed under D.Greaves the Poet.

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    Thanks for stopping by and visiting my site. I hope you enjoy the poetic works shared here.Please feel free to leave a comment and subscribe. You can also find me on Facebook under Darwin Greaves. While there, stop by and like my fan page. Listed under D.Greaves the Poet.

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