POVERTY doesn't mean FOREVER a poem by yours truly!

Poverty,
what do you know about it, holdin’ us back by giving us pity,
we don’t need it, you can keep it, we need you to think through this clearly,
it’s a perpetuating cycle, the reason we live this way,
we got mad bills that WE JUST CAN’T PAY,
pay this bill, that bill, get a small raise,
then loose the welfare benefits in a matter of days,
so we choose to NOT take the money that’s just sittin’…
so guess what, we’re really not benefittin’
it’s not helping us at all, but rather, it’s a hinder,
more like a deadly crash, than a fender bender….

get some skills my people, try to maintain,
don’t sit up here and just complain,
I see you with your Gucci and Prada purse, some of your stuff still has tags
then you get in line and whip out the food stamps, to fill your grocery bags,
then your baby has on Jordan’s, but can’t spell their name,
so what gives you the right to sit up here and complain,
do you even know how to communicate with his teachers?!?!?
you get mad because he’s in timeout, sittin’ on the bleachers,

unless you have done all you can,
don’t sit up here and blame “The Man”
this may be something that you don’t want to hear,
scared to progress because of that “black fear”,
you don’t want to be a sell out right?, that’s what I always hear
since you were born in the hood, you want to die in the hood,
if you think that’s cute, then go ahead and stay, maybe you should

look I’ve been in this same situation, no heat, no lights, no groceries, we all face it,
instead of you sittin’ on your butt waiting for a check, work to eliminate it
do what you have to do to survive, and I don’t mean rob folks and do drive bys,
I mean really better yourself, with some knowledge, it can be street or book,
I just want you to learn something and take a look,
look at this situation, so you can see why I carry it,
I’m not oblivious, I know poverty exist, hell some are married to it,

I grew up in it, if not worse off than you,
but I took a vow to advance and pull through,
graduated at the top of my class,
went to college, now I’m in grad school, I didn’t just sit on my a$%,
So don’t tell me achievement is not possible,
until you’ve exhausted all your options, and faced an unmovable obstacle,

for Christ sake now we have a BLACK MAN, running this here LAND,
you can’t need much more motivation,
do something people, I don’t want us to face annihilation,
In Africa we’ve faced assimilation, now we need some unshakable dedication,
I’m keepin’ it real right?!?! I’m tellin’ it like it is,
So don’t tell me to stay outta your family biz….

Yes,I lived “IT”, BUT “IT” I OVERCAME,
I just pulled out my umbrella when my life started to rain
it’s sad because I know some of you won’t face the fall,
All I ask, is that you teach our kids more than rapping and basketball,

I just want my people progressing, they may progress like you’ve never seen,
and come one step closer to the “American Dream”
Maybe they can buy the whole hood Llamas,
but I rather see them run a white country, like President Obama!