Poetry by Yp: A History Lesson

Did you know your History?

Society was like my class, I was sleeping through history

Cause I was reading about Blacks and Whites not mixing like chemistry

Dreaming bout a rope of ignorance that started lynching me

I choked up, woke up, and felt my teacher pitching me

I feel this nightmare that we can all feel

But in history,, reality shows but its all real

To fight for freedom despite death, I know that takes a strong will

Cause my ancestors paid the price for me like they had the wrong bill

My life is not a play, I just need to think in a Broadway

Deep down I’m looking for my pass like a teachers in the hallway

Cause Jim Crow is just a bird I’m still trying to kill

When they beat my spirit to death I start to look like Emmett Till

With Kunta Kinte feet I need to drive wherever Rosa Park

Who ever thought sticky bus seats could test what’s inside your heart

I have to fight but can’t let hate become my appetite

Garret Morgan taught me to Go but slow down like a traffic light

See I forgot how I got here, a lot more than my mother

I took a freedom train where Ms. Tubman acted as my conductor

Like George Washington, do I think of a dollar bill or peanut butter?

Or here’s some news, Langston Hughes am I “The Negro Mother”

The Past is filled with bloody storms with ridiculous thunder

I’m just trying to Tap into the past like a Nicholas Brother

Or Martin Luther, No No that’s the protestant reformation

Now Martin Luther King Jr. that’s a separate conversation

I’m talking about a King’s Dream that seems so serene no matter the team I’m on

But how can I live the King’s dream if I’m moving like a pawn

From Plantations to Playstations, its all game system with 1 or 2 controllers         

But my ancestors passed the torch, and my knowledge is the oven holders

They taught us to love each other cause the world is getting colder

We won’t just jump for our dreams; my brothers can climb up on my shoulders

Because I just can’t just quote Martin Luther King while watching Django

My history is gold, so I’ll go follow the rainbow

I need to know the Past so the Future will use me

And make my Civil Rights Act like a history movie

So now I’m walking out of class, tired, but something’s gotten into me

Cause I am now becoming the past cause I think future is in me

I know the Past defines our Future, that’s something we all live to see

So I ask you again, Did you know You're History?