This is dedicated to the young man in New York who recently lost his life in a hail of police gunfire while celebrating his wedding day. His name was Sean Bell.
Sean B…a favor for me and a statement to the demons
Beyond the brink, gather the death angel and any
Other heavenly minions that are taking a break from
Interfering in the lonely lives of the lowly humans
And return to the scene of the crime arrayed in
Your darkest spirit form and gather every one of
Those 50 bullets that sung a song as it whisked to
End the life you chose and hold them tightly in the
Palm of your now-praying hands and as the praises
Greet God, take each one to some dear friends of mine
Give bullet 1 to Ishmael, Abraham’s black son who brought
About a world of black folks to endure bad credit,
Hiphop and self-hatred centuries in the making
Give bullet 2 to the unknown black man that helped Jesus
Carry that heavy cross up that stony hill and never would
Know a slavemaster’s noose
Give bullets 3 through 6 to those 4 princesses that perished
In a bomb blast at the 16th Baptist Church in Birmingham and
Thanks for not inviting my mother to church that Sunday
Deliver bullet 7 to Denmark Vesey for his South Carolina slave
Revolt attempt and his memory lived beyond the noose
And his swinging, hanging corpse
Give bullets 8 & 9 to Sophia Packard and Harriet Giles for
Founding Spelman and educating thousands of black women
That their skin is beautiful and their minds enchanting
Give bullet 10 to Hiram Revels and let him know we forgot he
Was the first Black senator in America and Mississippi will
Never recognize his struggles
Give bullet 11 to Emmett Till and tell him your story
And have a laugh that they thought that racists death
Could kill Black life
Give bullet 12 to Marcus Garvey and let him know in some
Unknown harbor his Black Star steamship still awaits to whisk
Us back to our Promised Land
Give bullets 13 through 21 to the mothers of each of the Little
Rock Nine that endured to be educated and instilled the souls of
Black folks in their very bones
Give bullets 22 & 23 to Shakur and Wallace and let them
Do the chicken noodle soup and peanut butter and jelly
And other nonsense they allowed to silence our musical voices
Give Martin bullet 24 and thank him for his long walks and
Even longer speeches that resound in quiet murmurings in the
Breast of so many
Give bullet 25 to Duke Ellington and on days when the terror
In America is at a feverish pitch, a couple of spins of
“Mood Indigo” reminds me of God’s humanity
Give bullet 26 to Prince Hall and let him know we still
Square our actions & will try to lift this dead, morbid
World from the grave with the strength of a Lion’s paw
Give bullet 27 to Greenbury Logan and let him know the Texas
Revolution was a success but the Texas enlightenment is still
Millenniums away
Give bullets 28 to 34 to the seven founding Jewels of Alpha Phi
Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and tell them to ignore the chanting and
Stepping and to continue to challenge all to graduate
Give bullet 35 to Detroit Red and let him know Malcolm X
Was only one of his celestial names and that Black folks need
A pilgrimage to the voting polls and ballot boxes, forget Mecca
Give bullet 36 & 37 to Dred Scott and Thurgood Marshall and
We know the Supreme Court ain’t changed but changes the
Freedom of folks and frees those who hate freedom
Give bullet 38 to Tookie Williams and wrap it in a blue rag
So that he won’t forget the foundation of his soul or the
Basis of his Nobel Prize nominations
Make sure my four grandparents receive bullets 39 through 42
And I take heed to every dream they appear and though no
Words are spoken I hear…and I listen…
Bullet 43 should be left in the hands of Richard Wright and tell
Him if you read the words in Native Son backwards the knowledge
Blinds the light of the Da Vinci Code
Bullet 44 is for Frederick Douglass and the grandeur he displayed
For his people and the wisdom imparted but he should have been
A painter because we just don’t read anymore
Give bullet 45 to Medgar Evers and if he wants to know if we
Overcame don’t tell him about our dropout rate, single parent homes
Or the Black men who are incarcerated
Give bullet 46 to Rosa Parks and she doesn’t need to know
We forgot the date and the bus number or that we riot but
Only in our own communities
Bullet 47 is for Nina Simone and it matters not the year
We are still the “Strange Fruit” and we are hanging from nooses
Of materialism, violence and mis-education
Bullet 48 is for Jesus and yes they still want to argue and
Make movies about the color of his skin and continue to
Water down his message so no white child is left behind
Give bullet 49 to Nat Turner and he can share it with his
Followers and he will know that in revolt we continue to follow
Him and create the fear of Blackness into the oppressors
And Sean, keep bullet 50 for yourself and bring it with you
When you trouble the dream-sleep of those who killed you
And all those who are helping to murder a royal Black nation.
Sean B…a favor for me and a statement to the demons
Beyond the brink, gather the death angel and any
Other heavenly minions that are taking a break from
Interfering in the lonely lives of the lowly humans
And return to the scene of the crime arrayed in
Your darkest spirit form and gather every one of
Those 50 bullets that sung a song as it whisked to
End the life you chose and hold them tightly in the
Palm of your now-praying hands and as the praises
Greet God, take each one to some dear friends of mine
Give bullet 1 to Ishmael, Abraham’s black son who brought
About a world of black folks to endure bad credit,
Hiphop and self-hatred centuries in the making
Give bullet 2 to the unknown black man that helped Jesus
Carry that heavy cross up that stony hill and never would
Know a slavemaster’s noose
Give bullets 3 through 6 to those 4 princesses that perished
In a bomb blast at the 16th Baptist Church in Birmingham and
Thanks for not inviting my mother to church that Sunday
Deliver bullet 7 to Denmark Vesey for his South Carolina slave
Revolt attempt and his memory lived beyond the noose
And his swinging, hanging corpse
Give bullets 8 & 9 to Sophia Packard and Harriet Giles for
Founding Spelman and educating thousands of black women
That their skin is beautiful and their minds enchanting
Give bullet 10 to Hiram Revels and let him know we forgot he
Was the first Black senator in America and Mississippi will
Never recognize his struggles
Give bullet 11 to Emmett Till and tell him your story
And have a laugh that they thought that racists death
Could kill Black life
Give bullet 12 to Marcus Garvey and let him know in some
Unknown harbor his Black Star steamship still awaits to whisk
Us back to our Promised Land
Give bullets 13 through 21 to the mothers of each of the Little
Rock Nine that endured to be educated and instilled the souls of
Black folks in their very bones
Give bullets 22 & 23 to Shakur and Wallace and let them
Do the chicken noodle soup and peanut butter and jelly
And other nonsense they allowed to silence our musical voices
Give Martin bullet 24 and thank him for his long walks and
Even longer speeches that resound in quiet murmurings in the
Breast of so many
Give bullet 25 to Duke Ellington and on days when the terror
In America is at a feverish pitch, a couple of spins of
“Mood Indigo” reminds me of God’s humanity
Give bullet 26 to Prince Hall and let him know we still
Square our actions & will try to lift this dead, morbid
World from the grave with the strength of a Lion’s paw
Give bullet 27 to Greenbury Logan and let him know the Texas
Revolution was a success but the Texas enlightenment is still
Millenniums away
Give bullets 28 to 34 to the seven founding Jewels of Alpha Phi
Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and tell them to ignore the chanting and
Stepping and to continue to challenge all to graduate
Give bullet 35 to Detroit Red and let him know Malcolm X
Was only one of his celestial names and that Black folks need
A pilgrimage to the voting polls and ballot boxes, forget Mecca
Give bullet 36 & 37 to Dred Scott and Thurgood Marshall and
We know the Supreme Court ain’t changed but changes the
Freedom of folks and frees those who hate freedom
Give bullet 38 to Tookie Williams and wrap it in a blue rag
So that he won’t forget the foundation of his soul or the
Basis of his Nobel Prize nominations
Make sure my four grandparents receive bullets 39 through 42
And I take heed to every dream they appear and though no
Words are spoken I hear…and I listen…
Bullet 43 should be left in the hands of Richard Wright and tell
Him if you read the words in Native Son backwards the knowledge
Blinds the light of the Da Vinci Code
Bullet 44 is for Frederick Douglass and the grandeur he displayed
For his people and the wisdom imparted but he should have been
A painter because we just don’t read anymore
Give bullet 45 to Medgar Evers and if he wants to know if we
Overcame don’t tell him about our dropout rate, single parent homes
Or the Black men who are incarcerated
Give bullet 46 to Rosa Parks and she doesn’t need to know
We forgot the date and the bus number or that we riot but
Only in our own communities
Bullet 47 is for Nina Simone and it matters not the year
We are still the “Strange Fruit” and we are hanging from nooses
Of materialism, violence and mis-education
Bullet 48 is for Jesus and yes they still want to argue and
Make movies about the color of his skin and continue to
Water down his message so no white child is left behind
Give bullet 49 to Nat Turner and he can share it with his
Followers and he will know that in revolt we continue to follow
Him and create the fear of Blackness into the oppressors
And Sean, keep bullet 50 for yourself and bring it with you
When you trouble the dream-sleep of those who killed you
And all those who are helping to murder a royal Black nation.
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