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

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.
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