A Song For Assata Lyrics - Common

In the Spirit of God. 

In the Spirit of the Ancestors. 

In the Spirit of the Black Panthers. 

In the Spirit of Assata Shakur. 

We make this movement towards freedom 

for all those who have been oppressed, and all those in the struggle. 

Yeah. yo, check it- 

There were lights and sirens, gunshots firin 

Cover your eyes as I describe a scene so violent 

Seemed like a bad dream, she laid in a blood puddle 

Blood bubbled in her chest, cold air brushed against open flesh 

No room to rest, pain consumed each breath 

Shot twice wit her hands up 

Police questioned but shot before she answered 

One Panther lost his life, the other ran for his 

Scandalous the police were as they kicked and beat her 

Comprehension she was beyond, tryna hold on 

to life. She thought she'd live with no arm 

that's what it felt like, got to the hospital, eyes held tight 

They moved her room to room-she could tell by the light 

Handcuffed tight to the bed, through her skin it bit 

Put guns to her head, every word she got hit 

"Who shot the trooper?" they asked her 

Put mace in her eyes, threatened to blast her 

Her mind raced till things got still 

Opened her eyes, realized she's next to her best friend who got killed 

She got chills, they told her: that's where she would be next 

Hurt mixed wit anger-survival was a reflex 

They lied and denied visits from her lawyer 

But she was buildin as they tried to destroy her 

If it wasn't for this german nurse they woulda served her worse 

I read this sister's story, knew that it deserved a verse 

I wonder what would happen if that woulda been me? 

All this shit so we could be free, so dig it, y'all. 

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(Cee-lo vocals) 

I'm thinkin' of Assata, yes. 

Listen to my Love, Assata, yes. 

Your Power and Pride is beautiful. 

May God bless your Soul. 

(Common) 

It seemed like the middle of the night when the law awakened her 

Walkie-talkies cracklin, I see 'em when they takin her 

Though she kinda knew, 

What made the ride peaceful was the trees and the sky was blue 

Arrived to Middlesex Prison about six inna morning 

Uneasy as they pushed her to the second floor in 

a cell, one cot, no window, facing hell. 

Put in the basement of a prison wit all males 

And the smell of misery, seatless toilets and centipedes 

She'd exercise, (paint?,) and begin to read 

Two years inna hole. Her soul grew weak 

Away from people so long she forgot how to speak 

She discovered frredom is a unspoken sound 

And a wall is a wall and can be broken down 

Found peace in the Panthers she went on trial with 

One of the brothers she had a child with 

The foulness they would feed her, hopin she's lose her seed 

Held tight, knowing the fight would live through this seed 

In need of a doctor, from her stomach she's bleed 

Out of this situation a girl was conceived 

Separated from her, left to mother the Revolution 

And lactated to attack hate 

Cause federal and state was built for a Black fate 

Her emptiness was filled with beatings and court dates 

They fabricated cases, hoping one would stick 

And said she robbed places that didn't exist 

In the midst of threats on her life and being caged with Aryan whites 

Through dark halls of hate she carried the light 

I wonder what would happen if that woulda been me? 

All of this shit so we could be free. 

Yeah, I often wonder what would happen if that woulda been me? 

All of this shit so we could be free, so dig it, people- 

Photos 

(Cee-Lo) 

I'm thinkin' of Assata, yeah. 

Listen to my Love, Assata, yeah. 

Your Power and Pride, so Beautiful... 

May God bless your Soul. 

Oooh. 

(Common) 

Yo 

From North Carolina her grandmother would bring 

news that she had had a dream 

Her dreams always meant what they needed them to mean 

What made them real was the action in between 

She dreamt that Assata was free in they old house in Queens 

The fact that they always came true was the thing 

Assata had been convicted of a murder she couldna done 

Medical evidence shown she couldna shot the gun 

It's time for her to see the sun from the other side 

Time for her daughter to be by her mother's side 

Time for this Beautiful Woman to become soft again 

Time for her to breathe, and not be told how or when 

She untangled the chains and escaped the pain 

How she broke out of prison I could never explain 

And even to this day they try to get to her 

but she's free with political asylum in Cuba. 

(Cee-Lo vocals) 

I'm thinkin' of Assata, yeah. 

Listen to my Love, Assata, yeah. 

We're molded from the same mud, Assata. 

We share the same Blood, Assata, yeah. 

Your Power and Pride, so Beautiful... 

May God bless your Soul. 

Your Power and Pride, so Beautiful... 

May God bless your Soul. 

Oooh. 

(Assata) 

Freedom! You askin me about freedom. Askin me about freedom? 

I'll be honest with you. I know a whole lot more about what freedom isn't 

than about what it is, cause I've never been free. 

I can only share my vision with you of the future, about what freedom is. 

Uhh, the way I see it, freedom is-- is the right to grow, is the right to 

blossom. 

Freedom is -is the right to be yourself, to be who you are, 

to be who you wanna be, to do what you wanna do. (fade out)