Let Me Be Great

Don’t tell me what I am

You see me and you judge me

You underestimate my greatness

And speak to me condescendingly

The hate in your heart is blatant

I see it, I feel it, I hear it

You, keep these beliefs near your spirit

I understand that’s what you were taught

But ya thoughts are irrelevant

Cuz what society defines me as and what I truly am

Is completely separate

You look at me, and say

“appears of average intelligence

Skinny beyond belief and too short

Looks like a wannabe thug that mugs

And is disrespectful and apathetic

Puts himself first, and everyone else second

He’s arrogant, and pompous

Probably has no conscience”

See I get these things daily

Just based off of what they see

But they don’t know me

So then they hear me speak

And they’re like

“oh he’s quite eloquent, proper

Mannerable, respectful

Socially aware

Deep rooted in cultures”

BUT REALLY I’M NONE OF THAT

I could be a blue bird or a vulture

Nice and pleasant or vicious

Like, when I’m with white women

I’m nice and charming

So they start swarming and throwing me their garments

I articulate everything, enunciate heavily, and tell

Them of my dreams to be in the Senate

But don’t give me too much credit

Because I’m none of those

I’m not a proper gentleman that’s classy

And I don’t always choose to be fancy

Nor am I a nerd, just because I choose to use certain words

But don’t confuse it I am a master of the influence

Abusing your views on me, as these words flow as smooth as music

But at my truest, I am a black man, athletic, a hip-hop head, with friends who’re dead

Ghetto sometimes, committed some crimes, I like kool-aid, watermelon and my chicken fried

But that’s not all there is to me. Nah that’s not all there is to me

My step mom’s Hawaiian and my girlfriend’s Mexican

My cousins are Puerto Rican and my favorite teacher’s white

And I learn different things from them all

So my thoughts and beliefs don’t revolve

Around what you expect

See, I’m into government, I’m a student who’s coveted

Helping others, and making people smile all the time

And I’m not trying to complain and whine

I’m just saying I’m tired of being put in a box

DON’T TELL me I can’t do something because of what you see

Don’t let my demographics limit my abilities

Let me be me

Let me be me

Cuz one thing I hate

Is when you tell me I can’t be great

So Let ME BE GREAT

LET ME BE GREAT

Because my demographics don’t define me or my fate

I move at my own pace

Just let me be great