Rapper says whole lot has changed for black folks
since the bad old fifties and sixties …
I’ve been called the world’s oldest, living rapper.
I guess that’s an honor .. sort of.
But what fuzzies me is — how they know?
I mean, who knows all the old rappers in the world?
Just saying.
Me, I believe they just trying to git me to tell my age. See, nobody knows, ’cause I got three birth certificates — and yes, I was born in these here united states.
Where? I ain’t telling. But just so you know, I ain’t never set foot in Kenya.
But that wasn’t my point when I walked through that curtain. You know, before I go into my rap thing, I always like to give you guys a little something to think about, something to take with you … you know, when you go home.
Basically, I’m so tired of folks going around all frowned up, saying, “ain’t nothing changed, nothing’s changed in this country. We back to the same old shit — uh, pardon my Russian. They saying, we gon’ be back in outright slavery again ‘fore long.”
Folks don’t know what they talkin’ ’bout.
A lot of things’ve changed. And I know what I’m talking ’bout. As the man in the TV commercial says, “I know a thing or two, cause I seen a thing or two.”
Something’s changed these days that I thought would never change. But you young folks don’t know nothing ’bout what it used to be like. I’m talking ’bout back in the really bad old days.
Yeah, things used to be a whole lot worse than now. A whole lot worse…
Ask yo’ grandmama ‘nem. They know …
Back in them days we had to hide and hope The Man didn’t catch us … and lock us up just for standing there, being black or nappy-headed. Some of us was both.
But it didn’t matter, they was gon’ be on our ass just for dry long so. We didn’t have to do nothing. They were gon’ make sure we knew they could mess with us just cause they wanted to. Pure and simple … and we couldn’t do a damn thing ’bout it.
In my old neighborhood on the black side of town, back when I was growin’ up, there was some bad boys … I mean some bad boys. Them brothers would just as soon slap you upside your head, or cut you with a razor … or just speak to you.
Didn’t make them no difference.
And you wasn’t going to do or say a thing ’bout it, either.
Black Atlanta sho’ had some bad dudes in those days…
But even them boys, bad as they were … even them boys was scared of Alabama.
They be out raising two hundred dollars worth of hell, and somebody come running by, yelling, “Alabama! Alabama!” and every single one of them jokers would scatter faster than a rooster with a firecracker in his ass…
And I ain’t never lied. You see, I got my hand on my heart …
See, back in them days, the word was all over town that the good white folks in Alabama hated black folks so bad, there was a sign up at the Alabama line, and it said: “Read this, Niggers, and run. And If you can’t read, run anyway.”
The only direction we could run … was away from Alabama. You better not be caught in Alabama, period! You hear me?
If you wasn’t born there, you’d better keep your black ass out of there. They didn’t want anymore Negroes than they already had. King and them marchers and freedom riders was giving them all the headache they could stand.
We was so scared, we had kinfolks in Alabama — and wouldn’t visit ’em. Hell, no!
If we even saw a car with a Alabama tag on it, going down the street, we’d take off, and run ’til we couldn’t hardly breathe.
I ain’t lying. Got my hand over my heart again. Ain’t joking, neither.
If you heard them things we used to hear they did to colored folks in Alabama, hell, you’d still be running too …
But, thank The Lord, things do change.
These days … not only can you run in Alabama, especially if you can run fast… Alabama going all over these here united states, searching hard … trying to find brothers who can run — and throw.
And if you can tackle and catch, too — hell, you can damn near be gov’nor.
My eyes have seen the glory ….
Thank The Lord for football…