Date: Sat, 02 Nov 1996 21:09:25 -0500 From: "Rodney D. Coates" Reply-To: coatesrd@casmail.muohio.edu Organization: Miami University To: Racial-Religious-EthnoNationalist Violence Studies Subject: Ghetto Born Ghetto Born rodney c//96 River born, ghetto raised, learned to hustle by the age of eight. Sister scorned, tattered dress, ignored in school by those that hate. Brother bruised, broken spirit, walking through town without hope. Flashy cars driving by, city pimps standing in line. Political wimps, promising heaven, stranded in time. Pompous teachers, yellowed notes, teaching insanity. Arrogant fools, running schools, expelling children for trifle's. East of Louis, south of chitown, crips and bloods on the corner. West of hell, north of jail, crack and pot always for sale. Pain and death, sex and clubs, sisters walking the strip for highs. Water babies, dropping out of school, brothers stripping cars and dying. Soulful blues, jazz, rap and gospel mingling with the stagnant water. Railroad tracks, rundown shacks, blood and futures down the drain. Storefront churches, masques and temples, hiding from the rain. Mothers cry, fathers worry, children learn in darkness. Bright stars come and go, new ones born just this day. Diamonds in those ghetto grounds, waiting for discovery. Truth warriors seeing all this destruction, speak of another way. Silent angels watching over, youthful visions dreamed by many. umoja rodney coates