As clear as I can make it

I'm not the 'burbs, 

I'm the curbs.

The streets that often seek, 

A young life not yet at its peak. 

I am America. 

Every ounce of privilege I have

and every ounce I don't.

I am an ally. 

That graffiti that pretty's up the wall.

That's the markings of my culture. 

You don't understand, 

But we do. 

Billie Holliday, Malcolm X, Langston Hughes.

Cesar Chavez, Frida Kahlo, Pancho Villa.

Mos Def, KRS-ONE, Tupac Shakur.

It's all Hip-Hop and it's all me. 

I am the personification of the struggle. 

I am not a bar code. 

I am a vibrant work of art. 

I am the full power of my heart.