Hear My Cry

listen hea'.

now, listen hea', and listen well

the language that drips off my tongue, it ain't going nowhere

the way the words roll off my tongue onto my lips

the way i beautifully drop an "er" and add an "a"

see, that ain't goin' no wea', no wea' at all

that also don't mean im incompetent,

or that i'm not equal

i just simply speak a dialect that you don't understand

so don't ask me to repeat myself or to talk right

cause, for one i'm not doin' that and for two, this is right

this is my right, this is her right, his right, my mama's right, everybody's right

and just cause it don't sound like your 'English",

don't mean it ain't English

so before you use your English to criticize mine,

take a minute and listen, well more than a minute, but i think you get it

listen to the beauty of this language,

listen to the comfort it brings

listen to the confidence it bears

listen to the generations of faith it gives

listen to the amount of pain and suffering it encompasses

listen to the way it can lift a spirit

listen to the happiness it brings

just listen

so one more time, listen hea' and listen well,

these words that spew off my tongue,

they ain't goin' no wea'

i can mesh them with other languages,

i can down right hide em'... which i won't

this Black language, these Ebonics, this dialect, whatver you gon' call it

can be conformed to fit both our standards,

but listen hea', and listen damn well,

it ain't goin' no wea