I Am A Man Songtext
von J‐Live
I Am A Man Songtext
The police the same way, they put their club upside your head
And then turn around and accuse you of attacking them
Every case of police brutality against a Negro follows the same pattern
I tell you what, I pledge allegiance to the people not the flag
The flag′ll never represent the people 'til we all considered equal
In the eyes of the law, rich or poor, officers kill
Blacks with no remorse, then ask what we bitchin for
And wonder why the innocent ain′t even snitchin for 'em
You just as dangerous as criminals, so pick your poison
Part of the problem that refuses to relate
Turn the hood to a trap, very few can escape
Like the word that precedes it - neighbor
But if it ain't the cops, it′s somebody else′s neighborhood watch
As the money turns your block from hot to the new hot spot
Now it's someone else′s neighborhood, watch how police get along with them
The storm troopers think the whole hood is truant unless it's affluent
But even if you′re fluent in the language of law
With stacks of green backs, you can't reply or buy out
The fact if you black, there′s a target on your back
Your front, your side, they'll blow down your front door
Where you reside, air out your ride
Whether hooptie or coupe, your hoodie or your suit
You're ugly or you′re cute, a dentist or his son with a
Scholarship to hoop, Colin Powell or Snoop
Hands on the steering wheel, thrown for a loop
Hands up, wallet out, screaming, "Don′t shoot!"
Without even so much as an oops
Armed to the teeth like troops, fully automatic
Patrolling the warzone that we call home
Unless I'm breaking the law, leave me the fuck alone
"In America, black people are treated very much as the Vietnamese people
Or any other colonized people because we′re used, we're brutalized
The police in our community occupy our area - our community
As the foreign troops occupy territory And the police, they are not to - in our community -
Are not to promote our welfare or our security, our safety but they are there to contain us
To brutalize us, to murder us because they have their orders to do so"
How you gonna serve and protect
A beat on a street that you don′t even respect?
Blaming the neglect on the neglected
Confounding the cause for the effected
Children, women and men subjected
To a stop and frisk puts pride and lives at risk
Heartbeats on pause, if not stop
And probable cause is probably cause we black and y'all cops
No apologies, but apologists say not all police - Shh... Please!
When you′re treated less than human by a beast
It doesn't matter if it's the whole beast or nothing but the beast
If it′s systemic, pandemic
And you don′t even have the decency to condemn it? Goddamn it!
Good constable, if I was hiding
Behind the same shield I should feel responsible
But when a black child of God is dead
And you're dead wrong, why you only able to respond
Defensive for beating the defenseless senseless?
When we mourn and protest, pursuit is relentless
But what about pursuit of justice? What happened to the
People verses? When its police verses people like US
Victims are discussed with disdain
And disgust, fear, hate and distrust
Hard to win hearts and minds
When you lose ′em and you break 'em at the same damn time
How many hearts and minds and bodies are confined
Just for being indicted of the same exact crime?
But can′t afford the kind of defense that's unionized
Weaponized and never repents, the standards
Are doubled like sentences
Like what the 4th 8th and 13th Amendment is?
Did you forget? Cause the facts don′t add up to the stats
When the deck and dice and the dealer is loaded and stacked
So when I say I am a black man
Or simply I am a man, you had me at black
"The police in our community couldn't possibly be there to protect our property
Because we own no property
They couldn't possibly be there to see that we receive the due process of law
For the simple reason that the police themselves deny us the due process of law
So it′s very apparent that the police only in our community are not for our security
But the security of the business owners in the community and also to see
That the status quo is kept intact"
"They attack the victim and then the CRIMINAL who ATTACKED the victim
Accuses the victim of attacking him
This is American justice, this is American democracy
And those of you who are familiar with it know that in America, democracy is HYPOCRISY."
And then turn around and accuse you of attacking them
Every case of police brutality against a Negro follows the same pattern
I tell you what, I pledge allegiance to the people not the flag
The flag′ll never represent the people 'til we all considered equal
In the eyes of the law, rich or poor, officers kill
Blacks with no remorse, then ask what we bitchin for
And wonder why the innocent ain′t even snitchin for 'em
You just as dangerous as criminals, so pick your poison
Part of the problem that refuses to relate
Turn the hood to a trap, very few can escape
Like the word that precedes it - neighbor
But if it ain't the cops, it′s somebody else′s neighborhood watch
As the money turns your block from hot to the new hot spot
Now it's someone else′s neighborhood, watch how police get along with them
The storm troopers think the whole hood is truant unless it's affluent
But even if you′re fluent in the language of law
With stacks of green backs, you can't reply or buy out
The fact if you black, there′s a target on your back
Your front, your side, they'll blow down your front door
Where you reside, air out your ride
Whether hooptie or coupe, your hoodie or your suit
You're ugly or you′re cute, a dentist or his son with a
Scholarship to hoop, Colin Powell or Snoop
Hands on the steering wheel, thrown for a loop
Hands up, wallet out, screaming, "Don′t shoot!"
Without even so much as an oops
Armed to the teeth like troops, fully automatic
Patrolling the warzone that we call home
Unless I'm breaking the law, leave me the fuck alone
"In America, black people are treated very much as the Vietnamese people
Or any other colonized people because we′re used, we're brutalized
The police in our community occupy our area - our community
As the foreign troops occupy territory And the police, they are not to - in our community -
Are not to promote our welfare or our security, our safety but they are there to contain us
To brutalize us, to murder us because they have their orders to do so"
How you gonna serve and protect
A beat on a street that you don′t even respect?
Blaming the neglect on the neglected
Confounding the cause for the effected
Children, women and men subjected
To a stop and frisk puts pride and lives at risk
Heartbeats on pause, if not stop
And probable cause is probably cause we black and y'all cops
No apologies, but apologists say not all police - Shh... Please!
When you′re treated less than human by a beast
It doesn't matter if it's the whole beast or nothing but the beast
If it′s systemic, pandemic
And you don′t even have the decency to condemn it? Goddamn it!
Good constable, if I was hiding
Behind the same shield I should feel responsible
But when a black child of God is dead
And you're dead wrong, why you only able to respond
Defensive for beating the defenseless senseless?
When we mourn and protest, pursuit is relentless
But what about pursuit of justice? What happened to the
People verses? When its police verses people like US
Victims are discussed with disdain
And disgust, fear, hate and distrust
Hard to win hearts and minds
When you lose ′em and you break 'em at the same damn time
How many hearts and minds and bodies are confined
Just for being indicted of the same exact crime?
But can′t afford the kind of defense that's unionized
Weaponized and never repents, the standards
Are doubled like sentences
Like what the 4th 8th and 13th Amendment is?
Did you forget? Cause the facts don′t add up to the stats
When the deck and dice and the dealer is loaded and stacked
So when I say I am a black man
Or simply I am a man, you had me at black
"The police in our community couldn't possibly be there to protect our property
Because we own no property
They couldn't possibly be there to see that we receive the due process of law
For the simple reason that the police themselves deny us the due process of law
So it′s very apparent that the police only in our community are not for our security
But the security of the business owners in the community and also to see
That the status quo is kept intact"
"They attack the victim and then the CRIMINAL who ATTACKED the victim
Accuses the victim of attacking him
This is American justice, this is American democracy
And those of you who are familiar with it know that in America, democracy is HYPOCRISY."
Writer(s): Jean Sibelius, Jack Hayford Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com
