Fifteen: Stolen Life

Wake up in the morning go to work
Fire up the truck and drive to Sonoma
Hop on the forklift and load up the truck with 10,000 pounds of newspapers
10,000 pounds of racist, classist lies
Drive the truck back to Santa Rosa
Get the newspapers in the recycle
So the rich white man
Can print up the same batch of lies again and again
Like "it's too bad the cops had to that man, but he had a broomstick
And he was asian
And we all know they're all Kung Fu masters.
Samurai warriors, they're all just like Jackie Chan
It's too bad they had to restrain his wife,
Cuz she was a registered nurse and she tried to save his life
That goes against regulations, We'll just chalk it up to a bad night.
We're so proud our boys in blue
Cuz they always do what's right"
I saw Aylene today
I saw her children play, in the front yard
The thought occurred to me, how does a mother
Tell her children their daddy got killed by the police
Wake up in the morning go to work
Fire up the truck and drive to Sonoma
Hop on the forklift and load up the truck with 10,000 pounds of newspapers
10,000 pounds of racist, classist lies
Drive the truck back to Santa Rosa Get the newspapers in the recycle
So the rich white man
Can print up the same batch of lies again and again
Like, "It's too bad the cops had to kill that kid
But someone called in a stolen walkman
The cops had to chase him down
But he refused to lie face down on the ground
He just walked away, the cops said
His black skin walked away into the black night
So I had to shoot him in the back of the head from 50 feet away
I had to kill him it was self defense
I was afraid he would circle back around behind and kill me"
I saw Cornelius speak today, at Hayward Bart
About how his son's life was stolen away
Over a walkman that wasn't worth more than change
How does a father find justice for a son stolen away
I don't want to hear your newscast anymore, it's bullshit
I don't want to see your headlines anymore, cuz they're bullshit
I don't want to hear your press release anymore, cuz it's bullshit
I don't want to hear your police report anymore, cuz it's bull shit