Do you know why slaves weren't allowed to read?

Their owners were scared of mental liberation,

What could only be found with an education. 

Forced ignorance squanders original thought 

Lowering expectations, fueling blind spots. 

They say with knowledge next comes power 

Or rather freedom from the ivory tower, 

That is wilful mental slavery. 

Slaves to accepted social norms, 

Abandoned notions of needed reform. 

We give in to what we're told, 

Covering our own eyes with a tight blindfold,

As a shameful surrender. 

You're just a heartbeat that doesn't matter,

Until you take back the reins, break the old pattern. 

Free thinking isn't inherited, its taught.

Open-minds aren't an educators afterthought,

They are the goal. 

You aren't born with a voice, you earn one. 

Something so vital its often bought with a shotgun

And blood. 

Freedom always comes at a price

But its proven to be worth the sacfrice.

I refuse to let anyone deny my access,

Or even go so far as to let others opress 

My mind. 

A slave no more, 

Liberated thought is now what I stand for.