A Baltimore Requiem

Jarrett Gilgore and Eze Jackson perform at the April 13th Redlining event

A Baltimore Requiem
by Eze Jackson

Verse 1:
I was raised in the valley of the shadow of death where they played with our patience til there was none left and that was way before the riots.
Way before the quiet that the curfew brought at night dont know what you thought was right but half a billion dollar casino verses schools
close the rec center and say everything cool
Police and politicians break laws everyday/
and Im tryna convince my students calm down and follow rules?/
Please, violence is embedded every year when u marketing call of duty to children living in fear/
So miss me with the talk that you never was trynna hear before the news cameras and culture vultures was all in here/
Yeah, I said it you can tell em I did/
Welcome to Baltimore Dog this where I live/
Im tryna find peace without doing a bid/
but why these punk police tryna kill my kids/
But we rise as the relentless/
We dont need the governor to shorten our sentence we do it ourselves/
change comin you can feel from Cedonia to Fells/
Though Harbor East is disconnected they can feel it as well/
I rep West Baltimore from Sandtown to Park Heights/
Rollin through my city on a cool dark night/
Revolution never pretty you can quote that twice/
They wouldnt listen till the babies wasnt tryna play nice/

Verse 2:
My black back was ripped when they cracked the whip/
and that was way before the crack had hit
So back I sit/, watching all the dialogue about how we the savages/
We learned from the savages, horses and they carriages/
Run Nigga Run dont stop/
Run from ya identity when running from the cops/
Run from responsibility but never from the block/
Keep yo azz right there except for when you gettin knocked/ (breath)
I know some brothers Working as Doctors who grew up poor/
And proud to say that they grew up here in Baltimore/
Couple sisters that dedicated they lives to the Law/
To reconcile the wounds in the family still raw/
Some ppl fled running from the pain and went far/
Then found, everywhere you go
Thats just where ya are/
Ever since the riots,I been feeling kinda hopeful/
Its everyday people steppin up like they supposed to/

Chorus:
I been round the block some
it’s all the same
Looking for an outcome
that never came

Verse 3:
Last night I had a dream about a new city/
A true city some might say that it was too pretty/
But in this dream, the fathers were woke/
The schools werent broke and we aint have to fight so hard to get the funding/
We was watching the murder rate plummet,
and Police run ins/ meant you dealt with uniformed members of community/
Who actually live here and dont have an immunity to law/
The gangs protected women and children none starved/
Cuz the Pastors really lived like Jesus/
and rappers gave back and didnt flex and deceive us/
It was real real/
The politicians knew the deal /
when the people said to pass that bill it got rushed through/
A hush through the streets let the babies sleep/
The Brush to the ground when a neighbor sweeps/

Dont nobody tell me that Im crazy/
Dont nobody tell me that Im crazy/
I been out in hell’s reception room lately/
I been out in hell’s reception room lately/
Dont nobody tell me that Im crazy/
I been out in hell’s reception room lately/
I been out in hell’s reception room lately/
Dont nobody tell me that Im crazy/
I seen it like a 50 inch HD/
in a studio apartment the leaders will replace me/
Last night I had a dream about a new city/
A true city some might say that it was too pretty/
Last night I had a dream about a new gritty/
A new city if you privy to be wit me build it wit me/

I been round the block some
it’s all the same
Looking for an outcome
that never came