Genius and Justice

Genius and Justice

What will it take to let us be who we are

before God, each other and you?

While some stars shine by a light all their own

Others gain from the reflection of parents

and teachers, even friends and neighbors

Giving love and kindness to us as we go

I was one of the latter, being loved by all

during times of hardship, sorrow and pain

For the American Black Man is

Invisible, ignored, maligned and despised

We walked and talked about civil rights

But rolled like stones from morning to night

Some became great and well known in the show

While others held jobs, like a regular Joe

They came home each week with pay in their hands

To wives and their children, no waving from fans

This black man is he whom the geniuses study

This black man is quiet, he goes to work early

His kids are in school and stay on their mission

But geniuses knows well of our toxic division

That man and his sons are always a target

A suspect of crime before he gets started

The teacher, officer, lawyer and judge

Know their system is rigged to call him a thug

So when we behave and survive many storms

You smile and applaud, but deny we were scorned

Injustice is rampant while rarely we search

For those who encoded our destiny on earth

A picture or painting is all that remains

Of those who lost justice, with no genius to blame

Can a system admit to the evils of men

Or should men admit to our evils within?

A New sovereignty comes to all who repent

Who sees the futility of lives we have spent

In need of a friend with real intelligence

It might be that man in melanin disguise

To allay mental fears, who opens our eyes

The genius required to win our salvation

Is to respect living black men

and mourn together as a nation