If you were standing here where I’m standing
looking at the blessings I see
after being through what we’ve been through
seeing what we’ve seen
hearing what we’ve heard

If you were standing where I’m standing
after overcoming the struggles we’ve overcome
enduring the losses we’ve had to endure
listening to the endless chatter of
how we’d always be a non-factor
failures in the making
hopelessly fall short of our goals
would never amount to shit
never be shit
never do anything with our lives

If you were standing here where I’m standing
after the numerous attempts
to take our livelihood
to kill our will
to enslave our soul
to beat our spirit
to smother our hopes
to murder our dreams

You,
would feel every bit
as happy
as thankful
as grateful
as blessed
as I do
at this very moment

They tried to kill our will
and smother our hope
and instead of extinguishing our spirit
they ended up creating an unstoppable forest fire
a violent volcanic eruption
a massive wave of desire
that could not be turned away
by their shackles and chains
by their slave codes
by their Jim Crow
by their separate but equal
by their racism
by their prison industrial complex
by their systematic attempts to
block our tomorrows with their institutional Levies

If you were standing here where I’m standing
you would be smiling too,
because if they hadn’t done what they had done
we would have never discovered how powerful we are

We are
The Dream That Could Not Be Deferred