We would rather have our sons
than wear t shirts
That say rest in peace
we know there can be no peace
In the absence of justice
no peace as long as it’s just us
overstanding Black lives Matter
no peace as long as we need slogans
to carry the rage of blood soaked streets
no justice no peace
& we can’t sleep
Ain’t no rest in times of war
Been war since we landed on the shores
Black lives have always mattered
Since the slave ship Jesus sailed
Black life been shattered
We are not strange fruit
We are not the stone the builder rejected
Rather we are god’s reflection perfected
Standing in the face of the monstrous oppression
To which we have been subjected
Still singing red white blues
Heads down humbly over paying never was due dues
Trying to pull up bootstraps on run over shoes
We are this country’s infected sore
its open wound
Its festering shameful myth of creation
Locked in undeclared war fare for a fair share
For the right to live
Because our lives matter
We claim the right to live in peace
To bear children
Who live to bear children
We declare our right to life
We declare we matter
We are awake
We are not sheep
We are not asleep
We know genocide when we see it
You cannot continue to kill us
& celebrate our murderers
No peace when we plan funerals
& killer cops get book deals
No peace in the time of ghetto sweeps
Solider like police
School to prison system
White privilege
Structural racism
Bootleg justice ain’t justice
We are not sheep
We are not asleep
We would rather have our sons
We would rather have our sons
We would rather have our sons
than wear t shirts
That say rest in peace
we know there can be no peace
In the absence of justice
no peace as long as it’s just us
overstanding Black lives Matter
