Let Freedom Reign

[Intro: Chrisette Michele]
Oh American citizen
Come collect your freedom
No matter what you're living in
Oh American citizen
Come collect your freedom
No matter what you're living in
It's time to win

[Verse 1: Chrisette Michele]
Keep us in the four walls of our churches
We'll be quiet
Most of us ain't even Democratic or Republican
And by coincidence, we love the elected
Until they're detected
Of being human
America falls
Minorities lose war
But if we united, we would've won the war
On poverty, war on drugs
War on Medicaid, war on love

Freedom isn't given; it is taken
Freedom isn't free; it's earned
I know it's learned
Been hung and burned
Yet rest in peace
Resurrect it please

This ain't black or white; it's gray
This is not about my faith
Most of us don't know what to say
Right from wrong or free from slaves

[Hook: Chrisette Michele]
Let freedom reign
Do you want to be free
Or do you want to be dead?
I want to be free
I want to be free
I want to be free
Let freedom reign
Do you want to be free
Or do you want to be dead?
I want to be free
I want to be free
I want to be free

[Verse 2: Talib Kweli]
America the beautiful
Suspect as usual
Liberty and death
Give me freedom or my funeral
I walk across the planet with the steps of a giant
My rhymes bridge the gap between religion and science
Cause my evidence is spiritual
I know my sheer presence is a miracle
I wasn't supposed to be here to share with you
But here I am
Standing with my chest out
I take my place in history
I never get left out
You stressed out
And scared so it's causing you to act hard
Freedom ain't free, gotta put it on my black card
My passport claim I'm an American citizen
The constitution said I'm three-fifths
I'm not a semi and gorilla
Pack my song stronger than the Horn of Gideon
Truth is the Norse gave the native people syphilis
Consider this: Christopher Columbus ain't know where he was going
So let's stop calling our native brothers Indians

[Hook: Chrisette Michele]
Let freedom reign
Do you want to be free or do you want to be dead?
I want to be free
I want to be free
I want to be free
Let freedom reign
Do you want to be free or do you want to be dead?
I want to be free
I want to be free
I want to be free

[Verse 3: Black Thought]
We were carried here in shackles from the homeland
Broom-chopped, chain-locked, brainwashed, programmed
Time's changed, freedom reigns, I'm a grown man
Holding the future in the palms of my own hands
In this world the coonery and tomfoolery
All I'm trying to do is stay true to my community
The daily news ain't the only thing that's schooling me
Watching these haters operating with impunity
It's dirty dollar signs
Black and white collar crimes
Running out of time
Out of sight, out of mind
It gets realer in Israel, in Palestine
Troubles of the world start to seem intertwined
War criminals, conflict minerals
Pillagers are coming home
Five-star generals
Telling lies in press conferences and interviews
I'm trying to take back the power
Cause it's been abused

[Hook: Chrisette Michele]
Let freedom reign
Do you want to be free or do you want to be dead?
I want to be free
I want to be free
I want to be free
Let freedom reign
Do you want to be free or do you want to be dead?
I want to be free
I want to be free
I want to be free

[Outro: Chrisette Michele]
I'm just black in America
I'm not Afro-American
Just a passive American
Making believe I'm better than what we've been, what we've been
I'm just black in America
I'm not Afro-American
Just a passive American
Making believe I'm better than what we've been, what we've been