The Blacker The Berry By Kendrick Lamar (Excerpt)



left-19572000Social Justice Poetry and SongsName:________________________________________________I, Too, Sing America by Langston HughesI, too, sing America.I am the darker brother.They send me to eat in the kitchenWhen company comes,But I laugh,And eat well,And grow strong.Tomorrow,I'll be at the tableWhen company comes.Nobody'll dareSay to me,"Eat in the kitchen,"Then.Besides, They'll see how beautiful I amAnd be ashamed—I, too, am America.Still I Rise by Maya AngelouYou may write me down in historyWith your bitter, twisted lies,You may trod me in the very dirtBut still, like dust, I'll rise.Does my sassiness upset you?Why are you beset with gloom?'Cause I walk like I've got oil wellsPumping in my living room.Just like moons and like suns,With the certainty of tides,Just like hopes springing high,Still I'll rise.Did you want to see me broken?Bowed head and lowered eyes?Shoulders falling down like teardrops.Weakened by my soulful cries.Does my haughtiness offend you?Don't you take it awful hard'Cause I laugh like I've got gold minesDiggin' in my own back yard.You may shoot me with your words,You may cut me with your eyes,You may kill me with your hatefulness,But still, like air, I'll rise.Does my sexiness upset you?Does it come as a surpriseThat I dance like I've got diamondsAt the meeting of my thighs?Out of the huts of history's shameI riseUp from a past that's rooted in painI riseI'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.Leaving behind nights of terror and fearI riseInto a daybreak that's wondrously clearI riseBringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,I am the dream and the hope of the slave.I rise. O What is That Sound by W.H. AudenO what is that sound which so thrills the earDown in the valley drumming, drumming?Only the scarlet soldiers, dear,The soldiers coming.O what is that light I see flashing so clearOver the distance brightly, brightly?Only the sun on their weapons, dear,As they step lightly.O what are they doing with all that gear,What are they doing this morning, this morning?Only their usual manoeuvres, dear,Or perhaps a warning.O why have they left the road down there,Why are they suddenly wheeling, wheeling?Perhaps a change in their orders, dear,Why are you kneeling?O haven’t they stopped for the doctor’s care,Haven’t they reined their horses, horses?Why, they are none of them wounded, dear,None of these forces.O is it the parson they want, with white hair,Is it the parson, is it, is it?No, they are passing his gateway, dear,Without a visit.O it must be the farmer who lives so near.It must be the farmer so cunning, so cunning?They have passed the farmyard already, dear,And now they are running.O where are you going? Stay with me here!Were the vows you swore deceiving, deceiving?No, I promised to love you, dear,But I must be leaving.O it’s broken the lock and splintered the door,O it’s the gate where they’re turning, turning;Their boots are heavy on the floorAnd their eyes are burning.Speaking: The Hero by Felix PollakI did not want to go.They inducted me.I did not want to die.They called me yellow. I tried to run away.They courtmartialed me.I did not shoot.They said I had no guts.I cried in pain.They carried me to safety.In safety I died.They blew taps over me.They crossed out my nameAnd buried me under a cross.They made a speech in my home town.I was unable to call them liars.They said I gave my life.I had struggled to keep it.They said I set an exampleI had tried to run.They said they were proud of me.I had been ashamed of them.They said my mother should be proud.My mother cried.I wanted to live.They called me a coward.I died a coward.They called me a hero.The Whipping by Robert HaydenThe old woman across the way is whipping the boy again and shouting to the neighborhood her goodness and his wrongs. Wildly he crashes through elephant ears, pleads in dusty zinnias, while she in spite of crippling fat pursues and corners him. She strikes and strikes the shrilly circling boy till the stick breaks in her hand. His tears are rainy weather to woundlike memories: My head gripped in bony vise of knees, the writhing struggle to wrench free, the blows, the fear worse than blows that hateful Words could bring, the face that I no longer knew or loved . . . Well, it is over now, it is over, and the boy sobs in his room, And the woman leans muttering against a tree, exhausted, purged— avenged in part for lifelong hidings she has had to bear.Mr Wendal by Arrested DevelopmentHere, have a dollar, in fact now brotherman, here have twoTwo dollars means a snack for me, but it means a big deal to you.Be strong, serve God only, know that if you do, beautiful heaven awaits.That's the poem I wrote for the first time, I saw a man with no clothes, no money, no plate.Mr Wendal, that's his name.No one ever knew his name 'cause he's a no one.Never thought twice about spending on an ole bum, Until I had the chance to really get to know one.Now that I know 'em, to give him money isn't charity. He gives me some knowledge, I buy him some shoes.And to think people spend all their money on big colleges, Still most of yaw'll come out confused, go ahead, Mr. Wendal.Go ahead, Mr. Wendal.Mr. Wendal has freedom a free that you and I think is dumb.Free to be without the worries of a quick to diss society, For Mr. Wendal's a bum.His only worries are sickness and an occasional harassment, By the police and their chase.Uncivilized we call him but I just saw him eat off the food we waste.Civilization are we really civilized, yes or no who are we to judge?When thousands of innocent men could be brutally enslaved And killed over a racist grudge.Mr. Wendal has tried to warn us about our ways but we don't hear him talk.Is it his fault when we've gone too far, And we got this far 'cause on him we walk.Mr. Wendal a man, a human in flesh, but not by law.I feed you dignity to stand with pride realize that all in all you stand tall. Go ahead Mr. Wendal, Mr. Wendal Lord, Mr. Wendal.Mister Wendal, Mister Wendal.Mister Wendal, Mister Wendal.Imagine by John LennonImagine there's no heavenIt's easy if you tryNo hell below usAbove us only skyImagine all the people living for todayImagine there's no countriesIt isn't hard to doNothing to kill or die forAnd no religion tooImagine all the people living life in peaceYou, you may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only oneI hope someday you'll join usAnd the world will be as oneImagine no possessionsI wonder if you canNo need for greed or hungerA brotherhood of manImagine all the people sharing all the worldYou, you may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only oneI hope someday you'll join usAnd the world will live as oneCrying Shame by Jack JohnsonIt's such a tired gameWill it ever stop?How will this all play outOut of sight out of mind By now we should know how to communicateInstead of coming to blows, We're on a rollAnd there ain't no stopping us nowWe're burning under controlIsn't it strange how we're all burning under the same sun? Buy now and save, it's a war for peaceIt's the same old gameBut do we really want to play?We could close our eyes its still thereWe could say it's us against themWe could try but nobody winsGravity has got a hold on us allWe could try to put it out, but it's a growing flameUsing fear as fuelBurning down our nameAnd it won't take too longWords all burn the sameAnd who are we going to blame now? It's such a crying, crying, crying shame By now it's beginning to showA number of people are numbers that aren't coming homeI could close my eyes it's still thereClose my mind be aloneI could close my heart and not careBut gravity has got a hold on us all It's a terrific price to payBut in the true sense of the wordAre we using what we've learned?But in the true sense of the wordAre we losing what we were? It's such a tired gameWill it ever stop?It's not for me to sayIs it in our blood or is it in our fate?And how will this all play out?Out of sight, out of mindWho are we going to blame all in all? It's just a crying, crying, crying shame Machine Gun by Jimi HendrixMachine GunTearing my body all apartMachine Gun, yeahTearing my body all apartEvil man make me kill yaEvil man make you kill meEvil man make me kill youEven though we're only families apartWell I pick up my axe and fight like a bomber(You know what I mean)Hey! And your bullets keep knocking me downHey, I pick up my axe and fight like a bomber nowYeah, but you still blast me down to the groundThe same way you shoot me down, babyyou'll be going just the sameThree times the pain,and your own self to blameHey, Machine GunI ain't afraid of your mess no more, babeI ain't afraid no moreAfter a while, your, your cheap talk don't even cause me pain,so let your bullets fly like rain'Cause I know all the time you're wrong babyAnd you'll be going just the sameYeah, Machine GunTearing my family apartYeah, yeah, alrightTearing my family apartDon't you shoot him downHe's 'bout to leave hereHe's got to stay hereHe ain't going nowhereHe's been shot down to the groundOh where he can't survive, no, noYeah, that's what we don't want to hear anymore, alrightNo bullets at least here no guns, no bombsNo nothin', just let's all live and liveYou know, instead of killin'The Blacker The Berry By Kendrick Lamar (Excerpt) Everything black, I don't want blackI want everything black, I ain't need blackSome white some black, I ain't mean blackI want everything blackSix in the morning, fire in the streetBurn baby burn, that's all I wanna seeAnd sometimes I watch you die in vainIt's such a shame they may call me crazyI'm black as the moon, heritage of a small villagePardon my residenceCame from the bottom of mankindYou hate me don't you?You hate my people, your plan is to terminate my cultureYou're evil I want you to recognize that I'm a proud monkeyYou vandalize my perception but can't take style from meAnd this is more than confessionOnce I finish this, witnesses will convey just what I meanI mean it's evident I'm irrelevant to societyThat's what you're telling me, penitentiary would only hire meCurse me till I'm deadInstitutionalize manipulation and liesReciprocation of freedom only live in your eyesJealous of my wisdom and cards I dealtI'm black and successful, this black man meant to be specialRemember this, every race start from the block, just remember thatWhen I finish this if you listenin' I'm sure you will agreeThis plot is bigger than me, it's generational hatredIt's genocism, it's grimy, little justificationThe blacker the berry, the sweeter the juiceThe blacker the berry, the bigger I shoot ................
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