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about
When Michael Brown was fatally shot by Ferguson Police on August 9, 2014, the rallying cry “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot!” became emblematic of the larger Black Lives Matter movement, begun two years earlier after the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin. The epidemic of police violence against black men is sadly nothing new in the United States, yet it seems that demand for justice is growing more pronounced with each passing year. This song is my contribution to a number of artistic rallying cries for action in the face of such blatantly racist inaction.
#lastwords
“I don’t have a gun. Stop Shooting” Michael Brown, 18
“You shot me. You shot me” Oscar Grant, 22
“I can’t breathe” Eric Garner, 43
“Shoot me now. Kill me now” Kajieme Powell, 25
“Please don’t let me die” Kimani Gray, 16
“Why did you shoot me?” Kendrec McDade, 19
“Officers, why do you have your guns out?” Kenneth Chamberlain, 66
“I don’t want to die too young.” Christian Taylor, 19
“What are you following me for?” Trayvon Martin, 17
“What did I do? What’s going on?” Alton Sterling, 37
“I didn’t even do nothing.” Sam DuBose, 43
“Mom, I’m going to college.” Amadou Diallo, 23
“It’s not real.” John Crawford, 22
“I love you too!” Sean Bell, 23
Rest in peace and power ...
lyrics
Here we are
Another mother’s boy
died in the streets today
By the hands of the man
who swore to serve and protect
Just in the park with a toy
It ain't no game we play
It's a two-way street
to live with love and respect
Put your hands up if you stand with us today
Against the hateful and corrupt
If you fight for the right of all to live free of strife
So march with us, put your hands up
Another senseless shooting
fills my mind today
And the rage from the page of the sage
lights my soul on fire
They won't convict the criminals
in this tragedy
And our dreams are left to smolder
on the funeral pyre
Put your hands up if you stand with us today
And see we drink from the same cup
If you fight for the right of all to live free of strife
Come walk with us, put your hands up
Catalyst:
Hands up!
I'm still tryna understand what the man want
Black man livin like he in a manhunt
Cant wait for the system to man up
From a place where they wont come
unless they roll up on you wit the big guns
Put ya team up inside the hand cuffs
Mama wishin that they would unhand us
Nappy hair dark skin they can't stand us
Stand up, fist up, lift up til my times up
Look like me get picked out the lineup
I swear the times suck
Stuck, inside a mindset of racism
So take it til we make it need to break the schism
Cant even give my son hope
for him to take wit him
Break system til my people ain't the worst victim
Its all a downward spiral
When we don't want reform
we just wanna go viral
Don't know who to hold liable
Feels like a solution ain't viable
In the end we all people
Wit a mind and a heart to speak to
Beat to police you look how they treat you
We just wanna be equal!
credits
released February 1, 2018
Matthew King: vocals, guitars, bass, percussion
Mitch Chakour: keys
Dave Noonan: drums
Eraun "Catalyst" Dugger: rap
TapRoots is the musical project of multi-instrumentalist and producer Matthew King (a.k.a. El Rey Mateo). Born out of the
need to explore and blend a variety of musical influences, the music is at once an alchemical cauldron of rock, reggae, salsa, samba, and beyond, tapping into the roots of these traditions while imagining something refreshingly new....more
