Everybody talks to me like I’m the one Like the flaw in the mirror is me Like I should change But why should I change? I never even got to find out who I am Why you want me to twist my soul before I even get to stretch it? That’s wild That’s crazy You label me wrong before I even get to write my own name Say I’m bad before I become anything at all What is that Original sin or something? But let me tell you something… You ain’t supposed to fear nothin’ You a man, right? Stone-hearted. Fist-tight Tears? Not in this lifetime That’s how it’s always been That’s how it’s always gon’ be Or so they say But this fear it don’t live on the surface It got roots Roots deeper than muscle and skin It’s stitched in my intellect Camped in my chest Tracking down every piece of my consciousness Because black don’t crack and men don’t cry That’s the lie The curse dressed as culture So...Excuse me, please. Because I’m a black child with a black mind, carrying questions heavier than my years. I pray not just for peace, but for the freedom to feel To cry. To break. To build. To be I pray someday I’ll meet myself in the mirror, unmasked, unjudged finally free