The luxury ferry from Africa to America
Cost our freedom
But any objection
Cost our lives
Working on those beautiful plantations
Cost our voices
But any objection
Cost our lives
Sharecropping in the open air
Cost our financial foundation
But any objection
Cost our lives
Worshipping in the warm balconies
Cost our religious freedom
But any objection
Cost our lives
Riding in the cool back of the buses
Cost our dignity
But any objection
Cost our lives
ANY objection
Costs our lives
Running with headphones
Death sentence
Reading in a car
Death sentence
Sitting on your porch
Death sentence
Sleeping in your bed
Death sentence
Selling CD's
Death sentence
Selling cigarettes
Death sentence
Comforting a friend
Death sentence
Buying Skittles
Death sentence
Walking while Black
Talking while Black
Dancing while Black
Singing while Black
Jogging while Black
Driving while Black
Playing while Black
Studying while Black
Meeting while Black
Eating while Black
Trying while Black
Crying while Black
Death sentence
Death sentence
Death sentence
Death sentence
Shotguns
Ropes
Batons
Knees
We can't breathe
But asked to pay more
With life
And breath
And blood
And pain
And wails
And cries
And tears
And anguish
And injustice
And intolerance
And bias
And profiling
As indignity
After indignity
Is poured over our heads
And runs into our eyes
And seeps into our hearts
And stains our souls
As heads explode into rage
As eyes erupt into hate
As hearts explode into venom
As souls explode into violence
The cost keeps growing
As more lives are claimed
In the name of justice
That we were told
Was ours to begin with
But have to pay
For the right
To earn the right
To live it
The cost is too high
Asked of pockets
Already devoid
Of any more funds
Of hearts and souls
Already bankrupt
Of minds and spirits
Bone dry
It costs too much
To be Black in America
It's too expensive
To be Black in America
But where can we go?
This is our home!
This is what was built
By our very own hands
On the broken backs
Of our forebears
Mortared with the blood
Of our martyrs
And cemented together
By what we've overcome
The cost is high
But the value incalculable
Expensive, yet priceless
Tangible, but just out of reach
Reaching all the way back
To the mothers and fathers
Who sat on those shores
And wailed as their children
Departed in ships
For shores unknown
Who paid in despair
Who never forgot
We rise in payment
In retribution
In vengeance
In rage
Not backing down
But demanding to be heard
To be reimbursed
For our expenses
The Psalmist 6-14-20
