Look at me and tell me what you see

Look at me and tell me what you see

Should a young man like me dream dreams that seem impossible to reach

Should I write to breach those who’ve been taught to break the mold

Whose thoughts of gold are caught in this world’s onslaught

Which brought upon distraught and they fought to fill in what’s internally missing

Just as I’ve been, millions maybe even billions of browned skinned young children

This generation sealed in a nation where the thirteenth amendment didn’t emancipate enslavement

Dig deep to reveal what’s concealed under the pavement and you will see minds of all ages in cages

Barred together, tarred and feathered, charred in weather, scarred forever

So now we spar together

To fight for rights and despite that I write these letters

It’s clear that we’re still far from better

I guess it’s hard to sever this instilled mentality

So now you’ll see we stand on corners casually

Passing weed, crack, and speed reaching for success passively

Until you feel the breath of reality on the neck of a fallacy

And you gradually step closer to death or prison

Now in a prism that’s best left bereft

But I guess its slavery depth is one of the best kept secrets

Because, this institution, we despise but decide to keep it

Inside we feed it what we believe are diseased pieces

This is a war but I don’t need battle fatigues or a saddled steed

I’m not trying to dabble in greed

No I’m not asking for forty acres, any favors, or even reparations

No need for any form of repayment to replace with what’s been taken

The only thing that can save man are prayers to a savior

The flavor of victory is no mystery to history

For history has persistently overpowered equality

You’ve lost a part of you and I’ve lost a part of me

Through the middle passage you can follow me

To strange fruit hanging and dangling from hollow trees

To those who suffered in Dachau Auschwitz, Belsen, my apologies

My heart goes out to those lured from overseas

Sold into sex slavery

Those set in debt bondage forever

Sprayed with fire hoses and dogs unleashed

Through the Tallahatchie the blood leaked

Walked three hundred eighty one days just for a seat

And I still wonder what is the price to be free

-Daniel Travis