First came the German Shepherd dogs

Next came the water hose

Bodies lynched, then set ablaze 

Flesh singed, then meshed with clothes

Innocent black lives lost, on a blood stained Poplar tree 

Even now, I hear the Slave Overseer's words 

Echo inside me - echoing epigenetically

"****** run, ****** die, ****** free"

I am he whose antecedents

Suffered and survived the Middle Passage's arduous trip

I am the progeny who sprang forth from their chained ***** 

As human chattel, my antecedents suffered the sting of the whip

Their humanity, dignity and pride

Was debased and denied

Deracinated, their bodies were beaten black and blue

But it was the bruises inside, they tried, but could not hide 

Innocent black lives lost, victims of the lynching rope

Even now, I hear the Slave Overseer's words

Echo inside me - echoing epigenetically 

"****** run, ****** die, ****** hope"

I say again, I am he whose antecedents 

Suffered and survived the Middle Passage's arduous trip 

I am the progeny who sprang forth from their shackled *****

As human chattel, my antecedents suffered the cabotage of a slave ship

In 1964, they were granted civil rights, but denied civility

A denial rooted in the flowering bloom of racial hate 

And the verdant lushness of white supremacy's wicked fertility

So many innocent black lives lost 

Because of "Negative Eugenic's" lies and untruths

Even now, I hear the Slave Overseer's words

Echo inside me - echoing epigenetically

"****** run, ****** die, ****** choose"