when i look in the mirror
i see a lot of people
i see my grandfather on my father’s side
he was born a slave
i see his father
his father was a white man
he was a master
(i’m not gonna say his name)
he killed his own daughter
he wanted to father more light-skinned slave children
he just walked into the slave quarters one night
and tried to take his daughter
like he took her mother
but she wouldn’t sleep with him
so he killed her
right there in bed
what happened?
nothing
he just rode off on his horse
it’s in my blood
the killer’s in me
he’s in my body
there’s a lot of white in me
riding off on a horse somewhere
but you know who’s also inside of me
a black man from africa
selling his brothers’n sisters to slavery
that’s some heavy stuff inside of me too
some kind of screaming blues
they sold their own brethren
all over the world
people of color adored white people
that’s what happened in india
indonesia
australia
all over the americas
they came off these big boats
and we adored them
we adored these white people like they were angels
they had all these beautiful things
we thought they were gods!
we bowed down
we cooperated
people often ask
why you raise your voice like that?
why you so violent?
why this killing?
why this anger?
can’t you see?
there’s a battle raging
there’s some howling blues
silent blues
every time i point a finger
there’s a finger pointing right back at me
cause inside of me
i got two black men wrestling with each other
and a white man watching the whole thing from the wings
then the white man fights with one of the black men
while the other black man stands there watching
now they’re all fighting each other inside of me
trying to kill one another
trying to kill me
there’s another couple of people in there too
trying to keep the peace
they’re in there
all these men
they’re trying to kill me
they’re trying to keep from killing
they’re wrestling with each other
they’re trying to keep the peace
. . . . . .
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