Juneteenth 2020

As I sit and reflect on the events of this week

I’m delighted by the changes taking place this Juneteenth

Unchained by the law yet many are still enslaved by the mind

We can’t save everybody but with growth we can save many over time

I think that’s what Jermaine was tryna say,

But it should have been a private conversation

Not something for me and the homies to play

And thus it came off pretty tone deaf and out of line.

Think about what Fatimah said right back,

‘One girl goes missing

Another girl goes missing

Another girl goes missing’

She was spittin’ straight facts

When they kill our women with the heat,

we often don’t keep, the same energy

as George Floyd or Trayvon dying in the street.

And yes America abolished slavery

But we still have yet to defeat inequality

Black culture must be loud on this Juneteenth

But we mustn’t drown out the voices of women in the community

In this era of enhancement we gotta make sure all of us are advancing

Creating a paradise of Black joy, call it the ‘New Negro’ Atlantis

Cause this utopia in a way is a fantasy

But if we really wanna be free

Then we must stand up and speak

Acknowledge that we Black people are dethroned royalty

Then maybe this beautiful future we envison

could be one that we’re really living, I’m talkin’ reality