Panthers

Lyrics

[Hook x3] I used to run with a clan that was militant/ Preparing for war we studied strategies with diligence/ The revolution was our real intent/ We had to theory to work so we could find out what it really meant... [Verse 1] Then I was sent to Chicago, Illinois/ The place where the most Black Panthers were destroyed/ You either pushed dope, locked down, or unemployed/ Hearing shots late at night keeping the people paranoid/ In the heart of the South Side, countless died gangsters/ ... From the outside, we could be deceived it's all pretty/ When you travel the streets, projects be small cities/ Where the beast at the gate change the guard at each hour/ The older generation sing songs of Black Power/ And me, well I was reading Fanon and Chairman Mao/ So I could change the situation I'm in right now/ Listen close to my people who could really show me how to organize with my n***** put the system on trial/ But the streets kept calling my name, you know the song/ Even though I'm a solider, took my oath to stay strong/ Life goes on, some things take too long/ Sometimes you don't recognize what you got until it's gone/ [Chorus] Black fists, afros, kufis, and black gloves/ Five Point Programs, rifles, and black love/ Black Panthers, holding it tight like black hugs/ All the black ears who calling what black was/ [Verse 2] Have you ever read Seeds of Time,/ I read it when I was sixteen and it freed my mind/ Coming up on the dirty south floor of the roads/ Being exposed to the Panther code make me a soldier/ A child of the Ten Point Platform and rap form/ Word to this Huey P. tatted on my left arm/ It's fo' life, cuz if it wasn't for the Panthers/ The real OGs like Akua and Fred Hampton/ And comrades on the West Coast side out in Watts/ East Coast be LA returning shots at cops/ It wouldn't be no free school lunches/ It was Mutulu Shakur that gave us acupuncture to clear the junkies// The real walkers, up early feeding the children/ Punk police would drive by and spray the buildings/ Who was holding it down when Rap Brown got locked down/ If you love Tupac, his pops still in the box now/ This is how the Panther cubs growl/ Black Power thug style RBGs up// [Chorus]