Whats Going On - Marvin Gaye
When I was a child I spoke as a child I understood as a child I thought as a child but when I became a man I put away childish things,
And the childish thing I have put away is the “N” word
When I became a man I was no longer under the protective hands of my parents because now I have to be protective of the children,
I spoke as a child in saying things that were ignorant and people accepted it as being something said by an ignorant child,
But now in the form of a man I stand here not allowed to say things as if I were a child,
I understood as a child standing under what others told me and stayed there until I became a man and understood only the righteousness of God,
I thought as a child thinking that the way it was was the way it always would be and what a sad thought that was,
So now as a man I’m here to tell all those under the sound of my voice and all those who will ever read the words that I have written,
Hear me and hear me well,
The only N word you are allowed to call this man is your “Neighbor”
I know I live in North Carolina, my hair is kinda nappy and you may feel like calling me your Ni#@* but that’s not me,
You see as a man that is surrounded by impressionable children every day I am not allowed to be childish,
The days of calling me the N word are over because I have grown into something else,
That term is no longer a term of endearment it is now a term of ignorance and I don’t know about you but I like to think of myself as a man of enlightenment,
So call me your neighbor and that is the only N word you are allowed to call me,
When you need that extra push just look beside you and I your neighbor will surely be there,
You see I’m not speaking as a man but as an idea,
The idea that my kindness and acts of selflessness will continue to be with you even in my absence,
So call me your neighbor,
It takes a village to raise a child and God knows that I as a villager try my best to do my part,
I’m your neighbor, the one that tells you when someone has been to your house when you were away or when your fence was left open,
They say that if you knew better then you would do better because knowledge of the sin you are committing only compounds the sin,
If you know that you could and should be a better father to your child and chose not to do so then shame on you,
And to my children that know they can do better and choose not to I say shame on me,
Because lord knows there were years in my life when I chose to do things that were contrary to my upbringing,
But where I failed you will succeed and where your parents failed you will succeed,
Where they came up short you will go further, far and beyond where they made it,
Where your parents went to high school you will go to college,
And if they went to college you will go to graduate school,
To every child in this room under the sound of my voice you will be better than me,
You will make more money than me and be a better person than I ever could ever be,
To the parents of these children if we can give them hoop dreams in basketball and gridiron dreams in football we can also give them CEO dreams in corporations and president dreams of a nation,
If we can buy them expensive clothes then we can buy them expensive books,
If we can buy Roc a wear and Nike to keep them looking sharp then we can keep a book in their hands to make sure that their minds are just as sharp as the clothes they wear,
When I was a child I spoke as a child understood as a child I thought as a child but when I became a man I put away childish things,
So please do as I have done and put away the childish N word and tell the world that the only N word they are allowed to call you is Neighbor