Gravity holds me down
Holds me back more so
Than other people
Because if I tell you I
Weigh 185
You have to multiply that by 9
Times 2
For the last 200 years
And then add the stigma of the last 4000
For you to even begin to comprehend
How heavy my heart is
Because when I was born
I was born with the wisdom
Of my ancestors to know
That I could fly
But wasn't sure how to activate my wings
Leading me to believe and then dream
But then wonder
Why everyone else around me was still grounded
And just when I was beginning
To learn my colors
I discovered
I wasn't brown but black
And was expected to have
The fortitude and the insight
To know that being black was a
Negative....like being a "nigger"
Like I'm supposed to figure out
That my purpose in life is
To mop up the mistakes you make
And sop up the toxic waste
You leave behind in our neighborhoods
And take whatever you want to dish
Out in your public policy making
In your disproportionate education
And still have to check my race
Off on a job application
Just so you can fill
Quota
When I should be running this
But I could never see things your way
Because I see black
As being dominant as being a mystery
Because I've seen mothers
Who can hide their hurt
From their children with such glows
On their faces
And swallow pain
And kiss tears away
Get down on their knees and pray
And still have the strength to get up
Again
And radiate HOPE
So I have to.......LAUGH
Because you have NO IDEA
How strong I really am
Because I can walk around
With my head up my chin up
With the weight of the world
On my shoulders
And still look you in the eye
And I can blow up boulders
Embedded in stigmas and stereotypes
That haven't budged
For centuries
I can master your languages
And reproduce your technology
Because I've done it before
And I can stay humble
And I can mingle and befriend you
I can still love you
While hating the things you do
And what's more
I can fly
And what's more
I can fly
And what's more
I can fly
And still have the strength
NOT to show you what I really am
That I'm really a Seraphim
With six wings
And that my children
are all Cherubims
And if you push me
NOT to produce
Archangels to come down
to earth and take you out
Because all you see is
A black man

So if you ever see me fly
Just remember
How heavy
My heart is

From my book and CD "I'll Drive."