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I was born black, and I liked myself from the start Babies don’t know any other way to be They give their love to everybody free, it don’t matter the race or ethnicity Infants are color blind — that’s just how they are ... that’s just the way they see I was born with a midnight hue And at age three, the mirror didn’t tell me to look at myself differently Then at age ten, when I picked up my first pool stick, I got hustle taught ... made aware that I was born behind the black eight ball Did learn early on in the game — that the white cue ball is obligated to keep hitting me Smacking me around, and putting me in the side pocket Although, I’m quite sure I’ve been put in a few people’s back pocket I was born dark as charcoal Found out as a teen, lighter fluid got a thing for me Strike the wrong colored match, and you’ll find out bigoted people don’t look at you too kindly They will fire up your grill, and you’ll get taught a twenty-something life lesson: Ebony binoculars taking a view from an an ivory tower, showing you that if looks could kill ... As a man, when it came time for me to be born again I then was given wisdom to understand, that some are born to live in poverty of ignorance When they were growing up and looked in the mirror, they saw a face reflecting the color of hate Not being able to see your true self is such a horrible fate Being invisible to yourself is like being a living ghost, having the form of the dead Toe to head, nothing of substance is seen ... So they cover themselves with a white sheet, and let their thoughts roam in abandoned spaces darkly Because they’ve come to accept that they were born this way
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