Ghetto Knowledge |
All that I KNOW… is that I come from the ghetto
A place of broken dreams and niggas’ scheme by any means
Stealing and killing are familiar scenes
Gunshot rounds
Siren sounds
Ghetto birds are flying, shining lights on the ground
Barking dogs cry…because another human’s died
So all that I KNOW…is that I come from the ghetto
Where sistas with house slippers on and faces growled up
Don’t give a fuck!
Impatient in the check cashing line for pennies and dimes
From county aid because they're really afraid
To advance past the grips of the ghetto
Where minds are chained from trying to attain
A higher self-esteem
Cuz’ all that they KNOW is what I KNOW
The ghetto
Slaves to the stench of chronic smells in a place like hell
Alcohol / Crack / Spit / Dirt / and Piss
Drive-bys hit but they rarely miss
Blood stains buried in the concrete
From bodies covered in white sheets
Outside of trash-covered liquor stores
Bums beg for change so they can score and then get more
See, all that I KNOW…is that I come from the ghetto
Where he said and she said
Can make neighbors beat you with their water hoses
Black eyes and bloody noses
Curse words common
Food stamps / Potato chips / Kool-aid / and Top Ramen
Where “what set you from, nigga’?” will get you killed
By baggy khakis and crocasacs
Wife beaters and Bitches
Po-Po’s and Snitches
Female crack-heads switchin’
past niggas’ grabbin’ on their balls
To go to seedy motels housing booty calls
While roaches and rats crawl down dilapidated walls
Where black love can be so violent and turbulent
cuz’ families struggle to pay the rent
But buying designer clothes is money “well-spent”
Yet ignorant to stocks, bonds, and property
And living life drama-free
Embracing only positivity
There’s no one to teach us to achieve
Higher…a little higher
Beyond this urban warfare, this real life drama
Caused by the hurt and pain of what we KNOW
Knowledge learned in the ghetto.
copyright 2007
Nina
Womack |