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about
This track was written for the Unity Ball to celebrate black and brown trans women who are activists and community organizers. There were other cis-het, black men who are poets and hip-hop artists in the city that were asked to perform and they refused out of fear and ignorance. I agreed to do it because I thought it was time for hip-hop to stop being hypocritical. We can't be a community that values peace, love, unity, having fun, authenticity and voice if we discriminate and actively exclude people with a distinctive identity, voice and oppressed history. Paolo Friere discusses in Pedagogy of the Oppressed how oppressed peoples when in positions of power cannot turn around and continue the same cycle of oppression. If we want to see the change, we have to be the change. And my hope is this song is the start for all of us to re-imagine the world we live in.
lyrics
Love is… (Unity Ball performance)
Intro:
Forgive me if I couldn't recognize
The beauty and power that's in your eyes//
I see strength in every tear that you cry
Know that I will always be here by your side//
Verse:
You're special and you should know that this love is real
Committed to do no harm, and doing more to heal//
You are the light in these dark times, I need to reveal
I was foolish, now I'm ready to know how you feel//
Forgive me if I deserve it, tell me when I don't
Sometimes we rebuild the ship just to keep it afloat//
This part of me I acknowledge that I needed to grow
I'm sorry I wasn't there when you needed me most//
So I promise to step up and be there for you
And step back, so it's your voice that seeds the soil//
I'll share my home, my food, I'll be here for you
I commit to being an ear that you need there for you//
It's bigger than bathrooms, classrooms, and cash rules
Love is the only thing that's natural//
Identify how you wish, makes no difference to me
You deserve to be happy, and free, free, free//
Hook:
Forgive me if I couldn't recognize
The beauty and power that's in your eyes//
I see strength in every tear that you cry
Know that I will always be here by your side//
Imagine a place of acceptance and peace
All your wants and needs, you have what you seek//
Protected and respected by all your family
Where you can just be, free, free, free//
(Now right about this time. Love is not fearful, blind or ignorant.
Love is beautiful. Love is unity. Love is respect, consent, recognition and appreciation.)
Love is you. Love is me.
Love is we. Unity.
Love is you. Love is me.
Love is we. Unity.
Love is you. Love is me.
Love is we. Unity.
Love is you. Love is me.
Love is we. Unity.
Hook:
Forgive me if I couldn't recognize
The beauty and power that's in your eyes//
I see strength in every tear that you cry
Know that I will always be here by your side//
Imagine a place of acceptance and peace
All your wants and needs, you have what you seek//
Protected and respected by all your family
Where you can just be, free, free, free//
(c) Feb 2018
credits
released March 9, 2019
Lyrics Written By Paul Willis
Performed By Paul Willis and Lakeisha Mondy
Produced By The Philharmonik
Recorded By Chazahyah Yisrael
Mixed and Mastered by The Philharmonik
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