The Black Man's Burden by: Pallen. Thiam. Abraham. Philip

Take up the BLACK man’s burden,
Take up the BLACK man’s load,
Take up the BLACK man’s burden,
Can you handle his soul?

Try fitting every description
Try dropping out of school for lack of funds
Try joining the minority
Of a country that hates her sons.

Try growing up with no father
Avoiding the strains of the streets
Try hearing your mother cry
For lack of money, food and warm sheets

Try supporting a family that never sees you
Try loving God but fearing life
Try waking up early hours and working hard
With no insurance, a time card, and a miserable life

Try walking into a store
And watching everybody watching you
Try stepping on the bus
Watching the old white women’s faces turn blue

Try fighting for life under the influence
Of other sprayed eyes and begging arms
Try telling that judge and those lawyers
That you are innocent, while remaining calm

Try upholding a family of four
Sending them all to college
Try standing tall and proud
As they walk down the isles of knowledge

Try resisting negative glances,
Try having unrecognized talent
Try working 15 hours while studying
To compete with those whose paths have been set by
their parents

Try holding your head high
Despite the storms and tempests of manhood
Try doing this without aging
Without one wrinkle, without gray hairs, just stay
looking good

Try wearing FUBU or Rocawear
Sean John and Ray Ban gear
Try writing a rhyme or a lyric
Try preaching God’s love to a world that will never
hear

You say what you’d like about my brothers
They’re strong and steadfast in all that they do
They may fit your description, they may seem negative
But unless you can take up my BLACK man’s burden
Then none of what you say is true.