Fulminate
To explode or express with extreme protest
We focused this project on this particular verb
With hopes that certain themes would reach people who had experienced
Similar dreams, schemes, demons, and everything in-between

Who am I to say these things, well
My name is Marquise Green and I
Am a poet, teacher, student
Usin' music to release myself from ruin
What I mean is prudent, you see, I
Am my own Judas
And I
Threw my head into music
To keep it out of nooses
And I want us all liberated

We're not truly free until the tree that
Ms. Nina sung about is seen fruitless
They say the apple don't fall far
And I don't think it's
Far-fetched to say that we're not so far gone
From the same harm that befell our ancestors

Crosses still burn
Officers murder
Coffins still turn
Still dodgin' Klan members

And I say that to say this

Racism is still
Very alive and
Buried inside
The layers of pride
That weave the fibers
That we the people
Are "unitedly" standin' upon

Coincidentally
It took these failures developmentally
And combined with the experience
Partaken by myself, friends, and my family
That helped me develop

Mentally enough to create this project
And through this process
It helped me progress
As a human to realize that I need to use my voice to provide context
Hopefully help unravel this whole complex
That suppresses my fellow melanated brothers and sisters

I've spent my whole life
Wondering if everything I've ever been told was a lie
And that when I die, there isn't an afterlife
And then my brother told me some grand advice

He advised me to live to the fullest
Because there's no guarantee you'll survive
After this rollercoaster called Life is done

So after applyin' some of
This logic
I got
Pissed off 'cuz
No matter how hard I saw my friends and fam'
Try to
Live proper
The amount of institutional blocks in place
Made it hard to fix problems

Think about Flint
They still can't
Get water

So miss me with the irrelevance
You wanna make America great again
Blacks, Natives, Islanders, Hispanics, Asians
Ask one if America was ever great to them

When all we see televised is hatred
Wars between nations
Poverty and displacement
Don't blame us when we begin to make our own directions

Which brings me to one question

Why do you try to hide the
White lies that
Lead to our lives
Being gentrified
By the guys who's nine to five
Provides enough for sustainable life

If you feel like you're being threatened
Because our skin isn't your complexion
And disregard what our intent is
Then we will become a menace

And don't tell me slavery is dead
We went from being whipped and chained
To buyin' whips and chains, let me explain

That gold on your neck
That designer on your belt
Is just extra cash you've given to a corporation
We've become so infatuated with fashion and materialism
That we willingly halt our advancement and support an
Insidious system, hidden in the disguise of capitalism

We still slaves I can't stand it
Nike, Gucci, Jordan, we still branded

This thirst for brandin', and success
Actually leads us to a mess
We become so thirsty to get out of poverty
And find relief
That some of us start
Robbin' people
'Cuz America doesn't allow us to get by, honestly
And at what cost

They don't wanna keep us educated
They wanna keep us lost

Don't believe me
Here's facts

African American's make up thirteen percent of the U.S. population
But make up forty percent U.S. people incarcerated
Imagine that

How can we trust a government that wants us in shackles
That sounds like Stockholm

Which also brings us to a crossroad
To cope with the racial disparity
Many of us self-medicate
In the Hood, there's a lack of programs
Telling us to
Telling us to meditate
Or to help us with
Alcoholism, drug use, or our mental health
So what do we do
Many of us drown ourselves

And become another statistic on the hitlist that the one percent of this great country has administered
Call Mortal Kombat, they bout to finish us

Do you know how hard it is
To tell someone in prison
To hold they head
Knowin' they'll never get to hold they kids
And if they kill themselves
Ain't nobody gonna hold they breathe

Saying these things are hard for me
Because somebody without a purpose
Is something that they want us to be

So my advice to you
Is to love whatever it is you do
And pursue it whole-heartedly

Remember how hard your ancestors fought to make America
A place for you to start something
Remember you are cut from the cloth of
Kings and queens
Who's skin was black as ink
And are destined to do incredible things

You look exactly how you're s'posed to
There's no debate
And above all else
Challenge racism
At every opportunity

Do not allow
Anybody
Vice
Or institution to ruin you
And never lose yo' faith

This is how we strike back
As quick as lightin'
With all the love, wisdom, and knowledge
That we
Unapologetically Black

We fulminate