"Sangre Nueva"

to feel like curtis mayfield and heal with words
i was held in this verse that soothed my hurts
wounded, now my love does walk the earth
for the young ones searching to build their church, inside
away from religious little lies to convert, no
we decolonize, realize our true worth
see school didn't work for all, we unearth
our true stories, freedom fighters and glory
the system tries to ignore the significance of these brilliant
young minds who innovate to survive
who make a way and thrive
society acts like it wants you to die
twomp-six, nirvana, the land of suicide
always was an outsider, now i'm still alive
so always have the courage to use your own mind
cause you do fulfill our dreams unrealized
and my love for you is impossible to recite
it'd be the sweetest note ever spoke upon a mic

my generation, is like a nation, that spans nations
nothing you build can ever contain them
when fighting for liberation
i'm free as my mind can see
think out the box, stay alive young g
i'm free as my mind can see
think out the box
stay alive

These are the original lyrics I wrote for "Sangre Nueva", a collaboration with Bocafloja and Danny Beat that ended up on the Colored People's Time Machine album. You never know where else your words might end up... for example, my sister Moni got a tattoo! (pictured above) And a while back my friend Hari Alluri asked if these lyrics could be included in this piece he was working on for a book. I said "sure!" not knowing how big of a book project it would be. Now I just got my advance copy of Stay Solid! A Radical Handbook For Youth from AK Press and wow! I can't believe something I wrote is published with so many of my favorite people and inspirations: Luam Kidane, Angela "El Dia" Martinez Dy, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Adrienne Maree Brown, Alexis Pauline Gumbs and so many more! This is a huge project. But to my disappointment the lyrics I sent were not what ended up in print. What I wrote, and the way I write, is posted above. For the book it looks like someone just listened to the song and transcribed what they heard... something always gets lost that way. In this case a few lines lost meaning. I'm still excited about the rest of the book tho! For more information check AK Press.