Summer time, summer time blinded with red
Summer time, summer time.
Somewhere brothers and sisters are lying dead.
Who would have thought that these unsolved mysteries
Would be are worst fears and nightmares come true
African Americans trying to run each other through and through
The summer rages on and all of us are in pain
The sad parts are the memories and the streets filled with blood stain
Are not those of adults or men who are old enough to fight
But little children,
Coming home with instruments on their trikes
Mutilated and brains busted in front of parents too
People screaming, “Oh God, bring in the national guard.
What shall we do?”
The last time that pseudo calvary came into save the day
We had dogs attacking us, and obliterating our human rights
In a most vicious and pernicious way.
At that moment we responded with more marches and we organized to make a change
But something has slipped into our psyche and impedes us from acting in an effective way.
That something doesn’t allow us to march anymore
That something keeps us glued to the television and makes us deplore
The history of our history makers that people once admired you see
When others talked about leadership
And the fact that we were making his country what it ought to be.
Standing up for our constitutional rights
Fighting the power according to Chuck D.
Who says there is “Something wrong here.”
Or that Ice Cube had more lyrics to say,
As he said the city was wrong and that there had to be something
And hope that today would be a good day
But the choppers are still flying high in the sky
And all of have paused ourselves in waiting and wondering why
But we know what it is and yet we sit still
And while we’re doing nothing, there is someone at the cash register
Taking our capital home with them each day
And removing the possibility of us living in a different way.
For we are complacent in our minds
And we no longer even care to define ourselves as movers and shakers
We are the entertainers of the day, we jump through hoops
And we dance on stage and we sing anyway.
But those are the ideas for the people who don’t know how far they’ve come
And our babies and are crying for they ask for someone
To stand up and do what’s right to change the day
But all we can talk about is “back in the day.”
Shame, shame, shame on us
Summertime is the time for fun you see
We used to spend summers with the grandparents
But grandparents are too young nowadays you see
They are in their 30s and 40s
And they’re not just raising grandchildren
They’re raising the children of the grandchildren
In this day.
And even if that is the case, it doesn’t erase the pain inside
The mother’s and grandmothers have had to hide
That they are keeping the children permanently,
While their children and the parents are serving time
Keeping the children permanently for that daughter who started out fast and hot
And she hasn’t gotten it through her head that there is nothing the drugs can do for you
And that the trappings of life for African Americans that can’t see through
That summertime needs to be the time of peace and reverence as it was once in the day.
We no longer respect our history
So it’s the current movement and we can’t see it
So we know not what to do.
We can’t’ Twitter it away
And we can’ You Tube’ it you see
Now we are confused about who and what we choose to be
Don’t have these rhymes and all these songs that make you feel real good
About being a gangster or a hood
We are killing our children
So what ‘cha gonna do
Is it summertime and can you really erase and create a new mind?
Can we not look like we are suffering from a brain drain?
Can we actually be at the library you see?
Figuring out how to make a movement
And how our community used to be
Strong and at last moving in the right direction this day
Have a great summer
Have a reading list
Change your life today
There are six things to do during the summer that will help you make it through:
Read five books that were written by men and women before your day, that help to determine your direction
and help you grow anyway.
Take the time to adopt a senior citizen and let them be your friend. Take pictures and take notes so that you can know what time may have in store for you.
Take the time to find a spiritual home if you don’t have one, and visit a few.
Find some music to listen to, jazz or gospel or something that new to you. Look them up
on the Internet and
And then folks, folks, folks, take the social networking keys and introduce the hip-hop nation to the jazz nation if you please.
Take it even further if you want to know, and make the summer a place and time for all those in urban America to grow.
Peace.
–munson steed
