Twas a time of despair
 A breathless sigh,
 a strangled cry
 A whispered prayer

 
Untaxed loosies on the low
 Swisher sweets on the floor

 
Abhorrent no knock warrant
 Stop and frisk,
 cuff the wrist
 A taste of torment

 
Young boy playing in the park
 A bullet hits the mark

 
Mothers of black boys cry
 They stain his name,
 ignore her pain
 A life song unfinished

 
Fumbled gun in the stairwell
 A father fell, her mother’s hell

 
Your spacious skies tell big lies
 Of amber waves through
 teargas haze

 
From sea to Shining sea

 
Purple mountains and
 separate fountains
 Bear fruits of pain
 and violent shame

 
America the Free