Middle Passage

From the Middle Passage to character assassination
To the assassination of leaders in a nation fueled by the hatred
Of lies propagated as truth; but at the root of it all was a sinister plan
To destroy the dignity of Man and lay waste to his beauty
Since the beginning, our adamic nature rejected divine legislature
Hating himself in the process by denouncing his most prominent feature
Self-made man hates the helping hand of another
So, inevitably, he can't stand on his own two feet
So he'll ride the backs of his brothers…
Or what he calls, “others”

And by that, we always mean “less than”, never “equal” or “greater”
Because to admit that would mean he'd have to give up some acres
Next thing you know, we're down the road hundreds of years later
Hands and feet now unshackled, but hearts and minds remain in slavery

Fast forward …
Now our apathy toward our past has damned us to repeat it
Beat us down and left us in a coma
Only to wake up and find ourselves in a state of full-blown xenophobia
And everyone says, “Yay! Our president is black!”
But does it really matter when the state of the union is still whack?!
Think about this way:
They've had black leaders in Africa since way back
And over there, it's still jacked up…seriously corrupt
(But we'll save that for another discussion)

So what's really the matter?
Our pockets got a little fatter
We got our seats back at the front of the bus
But, what does that really have to do with…us?
By us, I mean all of God's people
Because our final destination leaves us all under one steeple…

Dr. King's dream comes to fruition in Revelation 5 -
That's why he knew he'd probably never get to see it in his lifetime
Anything less than that is a gross misinterpretation
As “We shall overcome” is reduced to bleak sensationalism
Sayin', “YES WE CAN!” to “hope and change”
But without the true Agent of hope, everything remains the same

A dream deferred only dries up like a raisin in the sun
When we place our hope of its awakening
In something other than the Risen One
That's why Phyllis Wheatley says that mercy brought her from a pagan land
And Jupiter Hammon took no issue with being another's slave hand
They understood that captivity served a greater purpose
And they wouldn't truly have freedom ‘til they reached the Kingdom of Glory
The invisible hand of Providence makes all of the suffering relevant
Through the proclamation of the Gospel
Is where we see God's truest benevolence

So I soldier on as a witness to posterity
For the witnesses who came before me who spoke with such boldness and sincerity
Emancipation through propitiation - blood bought freedom
The highest price that any could be paid with
Behind the dark and shameful past that we try to conceal
Is the mystery unfolding, just waiting for the day to be revealed
God made flesh; crushed for our sins
Tending to our greatest need
To be freed from the master of death
And if the Son of Man sets you free
Then you are free indeed