Embed Follow

[Verse 1]
You see, they tried to take my name away
And through that, take our power base
Can't trace back the place that we came from in the motherland
Climbing through your fire escape window like I'm Brother-man
From the Sudan, I can be from, my long features
Make me look Ethiopian, or Eritrean
The kids (?) be asking when I'm gonna teach again
They went that knowledge of self, the meaning of wealth
The fifth element to hip-hop (?)
If we left it to the schools, then we wouldn't no nada
Acting like that black kid on "Welcome Back Kotter"
It's a damn shame, can't even tell you what's my last name
Maybe it's Nkrumah, Ali, or Kente
Or possibly (?), running horse
The power of my ancestors flows through my voice
So it's my choice to take a stand, don't call me John
I'm an African, Carolina Cherokee, rock rock on

That was the worst part of slavery
They took our name
And with that, they took our heritage
Physical abuse was momentary
But the name, that lasts forever
But we got it back
Rock, rock on

[Verse 2]
You can never take my name away
Don't call me John, call me Kwame
I changed my name in 11th grade at Crenshaw High
You wanna know why?
Well I grew up a shy guy
Quiet in class, that's why I passed
But my soul was too bold to let that last
I took off my mask
Showed my true self, learned about myself in the class
While Roy Thomas, but then Dr. Clark passed
They taught me how to honor my past, now I teach my own class
See I was raised by an all-star cast
Muhammad Ali was my first hero
Because he wouldn't go to war in Vietnam, Malcolm X was next
Because he stood like Dr. King, not a pawn or a politician
Their envision was for unity
Marcus Garvey should've had immunity
Nothing you can do to me, I'm a teacher in my community
And honestly see the last of a dying breed
A Cherokee warrior plus an African prince
I want to get paid like Jay-Z but I got common sense
Cause when the money's gone homie, you got old and lonely
And if we all don't look good, then Quam don't look good
If we all can't get in, then ain't no even going
What happened to that slogan?
What happened to that slogan?