DONDA
Kanye West Lyrics

There can never really be justice on stolen land
Justice cannot fully exist on land that was taken away from others.

Are you really for peace and equality?
Do you genuinely support the ideas of peace and equality?

Or when my car is hooked up know you wanna follow me
Do you only want to follow me when I have something shiny or nice?

Your laws are minimal
The laws in place are not doing enough to protect people.

'Cause you won't even think about looking at the real criminal
You're not even attempting to find the actual culprit in a situation.

This has got to cease
Things have to stop going the way they are.

'Cause we be getting hype to the sound of the police
People love to rebel against authority and police are a popular target.

Now here's one little truth, open your eye
Let me tell you one thing, and pay attention.

While you're checking out the boombox
If you're interested in the music, listen closely.

Check out the exercise, take the word overseer
Pay attention to the message in the lyrics, specifically the word overseer.

Like a sample, repeat it very quickly in a crew for example
Like using a sample in music, repeat the word overseer in a fast, catchy way with a group of people.

Overseer, overseer, overseer, overseer
Repeating the word overseer in a catchy manner.

Officer, officer, officer, officer, yeah
Repeating the word officer in a catchy manner.

Officer from overseer
The role of officers is similar to that of overseers on plantations.

You need a little clarity? Check out the similarity
If you're confused, let me show you the similarities.

The overseer rode around the plantation
The overseer would ride on horseback around the fields of the plantation.

The officer is off patrolling all the nation
The officer is responsible for conflict resolution in the country.

The overseer could stop you from what you're doing
The overseer had power over slaves and could stop them from performing certain tasks.

The officer will pull you over just when he's pursuing
The officer will stop you if he thinks you're doing something wrong.

The overseer had the right to get ill
The overseer was allowed to take physical action if he thought a slave was not obeying him.

And if you fought back he had the right to kill
If a slave fought back against the overseer, he had the authority to kill them.

The officer had the right to arrest
The officer is authorized to take people into custody.

And if you fight back, he'll put a whole in your chest, woop
If you resist the officer, he may use violent force and even may end up shooting you.

They both ride horses
The overseer and the officer both ride horses in their jobs.

"After four hundred years", says KRS-One
As KRS-One said, after all these years (of oppression), things still haven't changed.

I have no choices
I have been left with no other options.

Can I hear me a little bit louder?
Can I speak up a little more so my voice is heard?

They will overcome
Despite the oppression, they will rise above.

The Devil is using you, confusing you
The Devil is using you to confuse people and make them do bad things.

Our job is to understand who is who
Our role is to identify the good and the evil.

Righteous indignation in this nation
Justified anger within this society.

We gon' start a revolution in this basement
We are going to begin a movement to transform our society right here in our own space.

And at the end of the day it's truly restless
In the end, there will be no peace until the problem is solved.

Y'all had y'all statistics and all them goofy questions
Your statistics and trivial inquiries don't mean much to us.

Y'all had y'all fake leaders don't worry we got it
We don't need your false leaders, we have our own leaders.

And plus it's only twenty-one days to break a habit
It takes 21 days to form a new habit; we can change the world within that timeframe.

Mama I need you to tuck me in
Mama, take care of me, because I need help.

I done made some mistakes and they rubbed it in (boy)
I have made some errors, and people continue to remind me of them often.

I know you and grandma had enough of them (boy)
I understand that you and grandma may be tired of my mistakes.

Why I gotta be so stubborn then? (boy)
Why am I so persistent in my ways?

I'm doin' this one for y'all
I am making this song for you and for everyone else.

So we can end racism once and for all
We can put a stop to racism permanently by working together.

How many prisons they gon' make? (all)
How many more prisons are they going to build to house people who have been wrongfully accused?

Watch the safe, one hand wash the other
Look out for one another, and we will all be safe.

Both hands wash the face
We all need to work together to move forward in a positive way.