In This Together

From Ethiopia to Zambia, real people
Just to be real ya'll, it's so hard to feel people
Without feeling they hurt too
I don't mean to unnerve you
But to unearth truth hidden
Tribal living ain't evil
Missionary, yeah I see you
Feeling good because you think
You're saving people with your money, bibles and your things
Who live in poverty because you got those things
But our self-sufficiency ain't a part of your mission is it
In places where to eat we gotta say that we are Christian
I don't care what you believe in
But imposing your religion on folks that need medicine
Is poison with the same hand
And it shouldn't even be a part of your doctrine
I got friends and family who grew up in the east
Cradle of civilization, and raised to believe
Blonde hair, bright skin & blue eyes is what beauty means
A white Jesus still hangs on my grandma's mantle piece
Schools in Africa are teaching U.S. history
European-centered so it's not a big mystery
On how my whole family disappeared out to these parts
Everyday the pain weighs heavy on my heart
They say Ethiopia is not colonized, Jah Rastafari praise
What would they say if they had my eyes
May not of come in chains, still enslaved in the mind
We in this together son, your beef is mine
They say Ethiopia is not colonized, Jah Rastafari praise
What would they say if they had my eyes
May not of come in chains, still enslaved in the mind
We in this together son, your beef is mine
From Flatbush to Crown Heights now, real people
Just to be real ya'll, it's still hard to feel people
That rep red, yellow, green, hella harder then me
I never understood all the symbolism you see
No disrespect ya'll, but the emperor you represent
Was an emperor to us, nothing more, nothing less
And he power-tripped just like all of the rest
And he was still in power when our schools were ruled by the west
It wasn't just famine, anguish, and civil unrest
To how I lost my mother's language
Born in America yet, we still citizens to the projects
To some, that's not impoverished, that's accomplished
When anywhere in America must mean that you got shit
But it don't take long to see that you are accosted
If they call you Black, you got the worst prospect
To live it up the best, so we reject ourselves
Like Black folks and Africans don't share the same hell
For us to survive we do each need to help
Crush the divide, find beauty in ourselves
Respect life, and stop killing ourselves
They say Ethiopia is not colonized, Jah Rastafari praise
What would they say if they had my eyes
May not of come in chains, still enslaved in the mind
We in this together son, your beef is mine
They say Ethiopia is not colonized, Jah Rastafari praise
What would they say if they had my eyes
May not of come in chains, still enslaved in the mind
We in this together son, your beef is mine
Now from Rwanda to Compton, real people
Face mass murder everyday
I can't feel people that look the other way
Because it ain't happening to them
They live American, blaming the victim for their genocide
Who mastered divide & conquer so well
Ask any set, or any tribe
From any side, or even nation
Ammunition we are facing
These guns have been placed in our hands by who
Probably the same fools that named us nigger
After cannonballs
Now we are stone cold killers
So who's controlling your mind
It's done by design
Until we were colonized we weren't even identified by race
Now they say that it justifies their hate
Dehumanization really does go a long way
From Willie Lynch papers to East Africa today
And I can be locked away for these things that I say
But I'm not afraid of them not feeling me
I mean, what's the point if they're not seeing me
To stop being me
To reach my real people, worldwide on the front lines
I'm a ride, and never give up the fight to protect life
They say Ethiopia is not colonized, Jah Rastafari praise
What would they say if they had my eyes
May not of come in chains, still enslaved in the mind
We in this together son, your beef is mine
They say Ethiopia is not colonized, Jah Rastafari praise
What would they say if they had my eyes
May not of come in chains, still enslaved in the mind
We in this together son, your beef is mine