Gather Round

[Verse 1: Brother Ali]
Ain’t no stopping the calling, I’m a warrior scholar
With the pad and the pen or with the sword and the chopper
Look at how far I got if you lost I could guide you
In between two extremes like Safa and Marwa

In the desert like Bedouins in search of water
Except we’re thirsting for power up in the urban drama
Every day our sons and daughters are led to the slaughter
Indoctrinated by a complacent social order

Decapitated they’re trying to cut our jugular vain
That’s the sacred lifeline from the heart to the brain
Make us blind to mankind’s suffering pain
Ugliness worldwide that’s done in our name

So the only thing we’re seeing is what we can gain
Precious blood shed in vain and nothing is changed
Drugged up in the daze in a comfortable maze
Upscale slaves in luxury cages

[Hook: Brother Ali]
But the weak keep crying and the innocent dying
And these are the times when the real freedom fighters gather ‘round

I said the cities catch fire and the flames grow higher
And the poor and the pious get inspired and decide to gather
‘round

When the times get dire and the mighty are liars
And the righteous fighting for their life get organized and gather
‘round

When the prophets are silenced and the tyrants are giants
And David sets his sights on Goliath and we finally gather
‘round

[Verse 2: Brother Ali]
Hostile environment locked in a conflict
Wandering lost in an impossible climate
Boxed in confinement democracy hostage
Bound for the towers monsters in the cockpit

Following blind unconscious accomplice
Judged by time indicted for our silence
Couple years ago I made a statement
Can’t figure a single Goddamn way to change it

As of late I made adjustments to my language
Numbers are the only thing the people gain strength in
If we’re going to change we got to step up our relations
Got to see our own selves in each other’s faces

Share each other’s spaces give each other room
And hear each other’s pain bare witness to the truth
And the ground gets holy when the ground is stood
And the goods may odd but the odds are good

[Hook]

[Verse 3]
“That is why I challenge you now to stand together. Because together we’ve got
Power and we can make decisions.”

[Amir Sulaiman]

Justice…
Is somewhere in between reading sad poems and 40 ounces of gasoline crashing
Through windows

Justice…
Is between plans and action
Between writing letters to congressmen and clapping a captain
Between raising legal defense funds and putting a gun on the bailiff and taking the
Judge captive
It is between prayer and fasting
Between burning and blasting

Freedom…
Is between the mind and the soul

It is between the lock and the load
Between the zeal of the young and the patience of the old
Freedom…
Is between the finger and the trigger
It is between the page and the pen
Between the grenade and the pin
Between righteous anger and keeping one in the chamber

So I say down with Goliath
I say down with Goliath

But we must learn, know, write, read
We must kick, bite, yell, scream
We must pray, fast, live, dream, fight, kill and die
Free