I wish I knew why my brothers and sisters are killing one another
Why they rob, steal, and destroy one another with drugs
Some say it is the white mans fault, some say they are just trying to survive
But if it is the white mans fault why are we so angry, and mistrustful of one another
What made us this way, how did this awful thing happen
What happen to the causes our forefathers died for, where is the freedom
Why have we enslaved our own selves, why have we accepted a lie
Why have we let someone tell us this is the way we should be, that we should hate
Why have we come so far, endured so much, just to turn on our brothers and sisters
What would Harriet say, what would Sojourn think, would Malcolm use these means
Is this what Martin dreamed, is this what he died for, would he be pleased
Why have we come to this, what happen along the way, my brothers, my sisters
Can anyone tell me, can anyone make me understand, is this the way it should be
Why, my soul cries out Lord, my eyes are heavy with tears
Tears for my murdered brothers and sisters, that died at the hands of their own
Not by the rope of the Klan, not from the whip of slavery, but their own tribe
What kind of thing is this, why has this calamity over taken us
Can not we see as a people what we are doing, are we blind
Will we continue to walk in ignorance, will we destroy ourselves
Will our end be worse than our beginning
Why is there no love in our neighborhoods
Why is there no concern for our brothers and sisters
Why can’t we stop the madness, the killing, the drugs
Where will it end, when will our children be safe
Why is red, why is blue worth more than black
Somewhere along the way we lost sight, we lost hope
We forgot where we came from, and where we need to go
We stop trusting God, stop loving one another
My only question, what I long to know is why?
Chris Brown©
September 26, 1997