Born In The Struggle (feat. Mike Marshall & Doctor Cornel West)

And so then the question becomes

How do we try to educate and teach

And exemplify in our own lives as older folk

To young folk, there's other ways of dealing with this

Then there's the larger issue of crime

How do we go about fighting crime?

Mandatory sentence, differential treatment

Poor and the rich end up in prison

Disproportionate black, brown, working class poor brother

I had to hand wash my clothes

Didn't have a washing machine or a dryer, ugh

Momma used to have to hang her period panties

Out on the clothesline wire, ugh

The vacuum broke, used the broom

We got company coming over this afternoon

You know our family like to gossip

Clean up your room, throw everything in the closet

I like to talk to the old schoolers, OG players

'Cause they was my age, I ain't never been theirs

I count on them for guidance, leadership and advice

'Cause everything I'm going through

They done been through twice

Or three or four times, five, six, seven, eight

We can learn from they mistakes before it's too late

Communication is everything, conversation's abandoned

People die every day because of misunderstandings

The highs and lows, the ups and downs

Pissy sidewalks, human shit on the ground

The ins and outs, whys and won'ts

History repeats itself, opportunities don't

Sad true story, unintentionally, not on purpose

Only time I see my family's at a funeral service

Her stomach keep hurting, but she didn't bother

'Cause you and I both know that black folk

Don't like to go to the doctor

One thing about us, man, we creative

And at the end of the day, we all related

Through the slaves and the Indians and Natives

They brought us here on a boat, whipped us and raped us

Scraps from a pig they gave us

So we cooked pork chops, chitlins, ribs and bacon

Fucked around and got addicted to swine, which wasn't 'posed to be

Now we love it, in our mind it's a delicacy

I was born in the struggle

I was born in the struggle

Yeah, our life, it gets harder, the youth, they die younger

The time, it gets harder, that's just what we used to

Ugh, you got a ride to school, I had to walk

We had rent-a-sin, the furniture, yours was bought

Paid for, your parents had more

You had a bed to yourself, I had to share mine with four

Sometimes I slept on the floor

That's probably why to this day sometime my back be sore

Ugh, hard times, we was borderline poor

Far from being the richest

If we didn't do our chores, we would get beat with switches

Born in the struggle where we all wanna bubble

Where it's hard to do good, but easy to get in trouble

Can't be soft as table butter, can't be no punk

And every neighborhood be having they own internal funk

Boarded-up houses, unsafe sex

Teenager at the bus stop smoking meth

Good girl gone bad, weak-minded without a doubt

Her parents didn't find out until her teeth fell out

Oil stains in the driveway, church on Sunday

Every time I go, seem like the preacher teaching to me

Pointing at me, looking at me

Heaven or hell, mayne, which one it's gon' be? Hoo

I was born in the struggle

I was born in the struggle

Yeah, I was born a black man

I was born in the struggle

Yeah, our life, it gets harder, the youth, they die younger

The time, it gets harder, that's just what we used to

Sometimes we sit back and watch things go by (Uh-huh)

Like that's the way they're supposed to be

Nah, nah (Nah, nah)

This ain't how it was meant to be

(This ain't how it was meant to be, mayne)

Turn around, look at your neighbor

Ask somebody (How cold is it?)

It's cold, cold, cold out here (Man, what you talking 'bout?)

And I'm not talking 'bout the weather (Say it one more time, brother)

I say it's cold, cold, cold, cold, cold out here (It's cold out here)

And I'm not talking 'bout the weather (What was you born in?)

I was born in the struggle (In the struggle)

I was born, I was born, I was born, I was born in the struggle

I was born in the struggle

Yeah, our life, it gets harder, the youth, they die younger

The time, it gets harder, that's just what we used to

Young folk don't come out of the sky

They come out of families, they come out of neighborhoods

They come out of mass media influence and so forth, you see?

So by the time a young person's six years old

How many commercials have they seen?

How many killings have they seen?

They're exposed to a very violent society