Greetings all,
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young black girl said I have to tell you something

don’t believe them when they try to put you in a box

and leave you there to rot

you can give the world a talk walk yuh walk

young black boy said I have to tell you something

you are brilliant and beautiful and strong and rare

do anything you dare

you can teach the world your truth know yuh roots

because I am more than the roundness of my ass

and the width of my tits

the thickness of my thighs

and the depths of my lips

the glimmity glammity hold him tight

all through the night

is not necessarily my numba one priority

I play ball like a ballah

my body pre-sculpted centuries of mule-hauling

cotton-sugar-cane-picking

sometimes even my own grave digging

does not mean my only dream is to become a basketball star

or track and field negro or soul singing sambo

I can be an athlete or storyteller if I choose

knowing these are not my only options

I am young and black and brilliant

my ancestors resilient and stubborn

and built on their backs

bloodlines of futures insistent on survival

we redefining some tribal box

and encouraging them to get corrective lenses

so they can truly see we we

we walking through metal detectors in school

that refuse to detect the rape and pillage

we recolonized by some great harris-tocracy

we experiencing the military’s militarization

of high school and middle school education

police officers turned hall monitors

like the war on terror this war is actually a war on people

war mongers terrorizing youth of colour

not for oil but for the future the future the future the future the future

preserve the façade

caz brown and yellow and red and black populations

are growing exponentially

and they are spilling over the multi-culti melting pot

and we keep saying keep the natives off the land

and the immigrants beyond the borders

and if that doesn’t work

suspend them from school

and if that doesn’t work

expel them from school

and if that doesn’t work

then close close close close close down the fucking school

sending them to learn trades instead

streamlined math and english f class

no university for we because we are the new underclass

a new generation of worker ants

while we ignore them sending mostly poor young

brown and black, yellow red and white children

and white children and white children to die at war

young black girl said I have to tell you something

to survive these times you gotta be strong of mind

don’t be afraid to shine

hold your head up high and stride walk with pride

young black boy said I have to tell you something

I know it takes a lot to become a man

sometimes it’s hard to find a good foundation

but be your own example son refuse their guns

after-school projects cut

while they make projects out of my neighborhoods

and recreate the new apartments gentrified

moving us out of our neighborhoods

extra curricular activities

replaced by what? malls and prisons and prozac and suicide

gun suppliers supplying young black brilliant dealers and buyers

of an old boys’ club economy

caz whether it’s crack cocaine or cotton cotton cotton

we steady picking picking picking picking picking

and somebody steady reaping reaping reaping

and black mother steady weeping weeping

caz my brother’s dead or inna jail or inna madhouse

or my sister just been beat up or ganged raped or diagnosed as manic depressive

yo yo yo yo

we want more than malls and prisons

we want more than prozac and suicide

we want more than 10:30 curfews and coca cola happy meals

or the latest escapist joy ride

caz sometimes we are not happy

sometimes we are not happy

we are young and black and brilliant

wanting more than a piece of dry-up dry-up apple pie

infested with small pox hepatitis and aids aids aids aids aids aid aids aids aids aids aids aids aids

and aids-tainted blood

young black girl said I have to tell you something

you have a right to liberation

you have a right to self-protection

you have a right to happiness and

love inna di land

young black boy said I have to tell you something

you haffi fi fight dem segregation

fight dem criminalization

demand respect and admiration

and love inna di land

because you are young and black and brilliant

and afrikan and canadian and caribbean

and american and east asian and south asian

you are south-east asian you are first nations

you are european you are afrikan

and because I love you

and we love you young black girl

we love you young black boy

I have to tell you something

you are why I sing
credits

from 333, released 05 December 2011

young black

lyrics & vocals by d’bi.

produced & arranged by jakofire pro