Infinite Black Smoke

It is as if they want you to think that I do not exist
A black man that thinks before he speaks
Writes and expresses his intellect before his sex
Never stands on pompousness because I know I need you

There always has to be an us for there to be a me
Trunk, limbs and shared roots of the same tree
Whether I am self made or degreed
The world would like for you to believe I am a myth

I do not brag about taking care of my responsibilities
Because they are my responsibilities, period
I may not smile as much as would make some comfortable
A lot of people just are not comfortable when a black man is serious

Curious if there is something going on in my head
Why yes, all of the time
I believe in progress
Differentiating my self from the next

Keeping this in context
I am everywhere
There is no time that the world has not known me
I created time so I am older than it

Wasting a lot of it, my descendants may not reflect our true purpose
But that does not negate my impact on the planet
All histories lead to my love for humanity
And self destruction may have come from my vanity

My desire to trust the undeserving
Underserved by a planet that is still learning how to love me openly
As I am still learning how to love my self privately
And a lot of the world is watching my destruction silently

I am you, all of you
Even though I may not make headlines in papers and periodicals
The prodigal son I have always been
And I have always treated you like we were kin

My sin no worse than other men
I am just extremely and easily defined by my characteristics and or my skin
Before I named the sun, moon and stars
Before I named the wind

Now I have forgotten the path I created as well
So my fight now is to stay out of the prison industrial complex
And avoiding the mindset
To just give up and not fight

Assimilation into the greater society has made me as
Infinite Black Smoke Similar to pollution
Rather than the solution for what ails the world
The universe knows how medicinal I have been

Creating blues, jazz, bebop and hip hop
Then throwing it in the universe
To be capitalized on by all other remote versions of me
Minus the recognition of the connection

The more you dilute my genes
The harder it is for you to keep rhythm
So the beat and cadence changes
To suit the author of the confusion

In other words
You steal from me then say I did not want it
And maybe all of that is true
And maybe all of it is a lie

Try if you will to think of who in the world would want to be poor
Who in this world would not like to see themselves in positive images in primetime
Who would not want to be respected for their accomplishments
Outside of entertainment

I'd like to be recognized for making the traffic light
Providing the bamboo filament for the light bulb
For blood plasma research
For making the artificial heart

I'd like American culture to see that there were no cook books until after slavery
Because the black cooks knew the recipes
So anytime you sell them on TV
This is a reflection of me

I'd like the world to respect my accomplishments
Acknowledge that the "Real McCoy" is a product of a black man
The super soaker created by a black scientist
Because even my own people don't always know this

Presently a black man is McDonald's president
So the Big Mac's, big mack is black
In fact, the first to die in the American Revolution was a black man too
As well as the architect for the nation's capital

The founder of what is now known as Chicago was black
I'd like the historians to tell that the reason Napoleon had to sell Louisiana
Is because he was loosing the slave revolt in Haiti
L'Overture, Bookman and Dessalines

I really want the world to stop saying they brought slaves from Africa to America
And say they brought men and women from Africa and enslaved them in America
Because there is a difference
And it does make a difference

It is as if they want you to think that I do not exist
A black man that thinks before he speaks
Writes and expresses his intellect before his sex
Never stands on pompousness

Because I know I need you

There always has to be an us for there to be a me
Trunk, limbs and shared roots of the same tree
Whether I am self made or degreed
The world would like for you to believe I am a myth

I do not brag about taking care of my responsibilities
Because they are my responsibilities, period
I may not smile as much as would make some comfortable
A lot of people just are not comfortable when a black man is serious

Curious if there is something going on in my head
Why yes, all of the time
I believe in progress
Differentiating my self from the next

I am not just Infinite Black Smoke...