If our hair was on trial

If our hair was on trial And it was called to testify And tell the truth Of what the world put it through It tells the stories Of all the hairstyles That it was It starts with when it was cornrows It takes the jury back to the fields Where the blistering heat Sucked the life out of it But it tells us a secret Kept hidden throughout history Of stories Of survival To send messages without the slave owners knowing A way to escape and a form of rebellion It helped with their freedom It talks about the how it has been an afro An act of radical expression A form of resistance To say you can't control us But it also talks about how the system Tried to silence its existence And how the ignorant Took it as an invitation To touch it without permission It then talks about all the different braids it was How it was a form of creative expression How it captured everyone's attention In awe of its versatility But also causing jealousy This was apart of black legacy The jury have made their decision And gone through generations of history To find our hair not guilty They offer their apologies Of the brutality We endured throughout history And for us this would be a victory