Letter To My Countrymen

"Sooner or later" [Verse One]: I used to think I hated this place Couldn't wait to tell the president straight to his face But lately I changed, nowadays I embrace it all Beautiful ideals and amazing flaws Got to care enough to give a testament' Bout the deeply depressing mess we're in It's home so we better make the best of it I wanna make this country what it says it is Still dream in the vividest living color No matter how many times my love been smothered Who's ever above us won't just let us suffer All of this struggling got to amount to something This is a letter to my countrymen Especially those my age and younger than We're up against an ugly trend Everybody's hustling, don't nobody touch their friends No group singing and dancing No anthem nobody holds hands, and... Instead they give you a handheld And make you shoulder life's burden by your damn self One thing that can't be debated Power never changed on it's own you got to make it That's why community is so sacred That's the symbol that we make when we raise fists Chorus: "Sooner or later" [Verse 2]: We don't really like to talk about the race thing The whole grandparents used to own slaves thing Pat ourselves on the back in February Looking at pictures of Abe Lincoln and the great King But the real picture's much more embarrassing We're still not even close to really sharing things The situation of oppressed people Shows what we feel it means to be a human being What does it mean to be American? I think the struggle to be free is our inheritance And if we say it how it really is We know our lily skin still give us privilege Advantage is given to the few That are built into the roots of our biggest institutions That's the truth in life we got to choose Do I fight in the movement or think I'm entitled to it This is not a practice life This is the big game we got to attack it right Each one of us is headed for the grave This old crooked world won't be saved by the passive type This is a letter to my countrymen Not from a Democrat or a Republican But one among ya That's why you call me Brother Ain't scared to tell you we're in trouble cause I love you Chorus:"Sooner or later" [Verse 3]: They tell me I'm a dreamer, they ridicule They feel defeated, old, bitter, and cynical Excuse me but I see it from a different view I still believe in what a driven few could really do I know that the masses want to sleep And they would just rather hear me rapping to the beat But I want to pass this planet to my son A little better than it was when they handed it to me So I wrote a letter to my countrymen I'll be happy if it only reaches one of them Reporting live A-L-I, your brother Mourning in America, dreaming in color [Dr. Cornel West talking]: My dear Brother Ali,I think you know deep down in your soul that something, something just ain't right.You don't want to be just well adjusted to injustice and well adapted to indifference. You want to be a person with integrity who leaves a mark on the world.People can say when you go that you left the world just a little better than you found it. I understand. I want to be like that too