[00:03.654] In the Spirit of God
[00:05.772] In the Spirit of the Ancestors
[00:08.652] In the Spirit of the Black Panthers
[00:11.888] In the Spirit of Assata Shakur
[00:14.621] We make this movement towards freedom
[00:17.193] For all those who have been oppressed, and all those in the struggle
[00:21.298] Yeah. yo, check it-
[00:23.725] There were lights and sirens, gunshots firing
[00:26.977] Cover your eyes as I describe a scene so violent
[00:29.693] Seemed like a bad dream, she laid in a blood puddle
[00:32.611] Blood bubbled in her chest, cold air brushed against open flesh
[00:36.865] No room to rest, pain consumed each breath
[00:40.352] Shot twice with her hands up
[00:41.738] Police questioned but shot before she answered
[00:44.709] One Panther lost his life, the other ran for his
[00:48.015] Scandalous the police were as they kicked and beat her
[00:50.649] Comprehension she was beyond, trying to hold on
[00:53.396] To life. She thought she'd live with no arm
[00:56.318] That's what it felt like, got to the hospital, eyes held tight
[00:59.267] They moved her room to room-she could tell by the light
[01:01.449] Handcuffed tight to the bed, through her skin it bit
[01:04.263] Put guns to her head, every word she got hit
[01:06.971] "Who shot the trooper?" they asked her
[01:08.645] Put mace in her eyes, threatened to blast her
[01:11.420] Her mind raced till things got still
[01:13.592] Opened her eyes, realized she's next to her best friend who got killed
[01:17.565] She got chills, they told her: that's where she would be next
[01:20.547] Hurt mixed wit anger, survival was a reflex
[01:23.123] They lied and denied visits from her lawyer
[01:25.669] But she was building as they tried to destroy her
[01:28.420] If it wasn't for this German nurse they would've served her worse
[01:30.874] I read this sister's story, knew that it deserved a verse
[01:33.713] I wonder what would happen if that would've been me?
[01:36.182] All of this just so we could be free
[01:38.204] So dig it, y'all
[01:49.674] I'm thinking of Assata, yes
[01:55.081] Listen to my love, Assata, yes
[02:00.038] Your power and pride is beautiful
[02:05.325] May God bless your soul
[02:10.718] It seemed like the middle of the night when the law awakened her
[02:13.820] Walkie-talkies crackling, I see them when they're taking her
[02:16.589] Though she kind of knew
[02:17.820] What made the ride peaceful was the trees and the sky was blue
[02:21.026] Arrived to ********* Prison about 6 in the morning
[02:24.163] Uneasy as they pushed her to the second floor in
[02:27.289] A cell, one cot, no window, facing hell
[02:29.550] Put in the basement of a prison with all males
[02:32.339] And the smell of misery, seatless toilets and centipedes
[02:34.734] She'd exercise, paint, and begin to read
[02:37.608] Two years in a hole, her soul grew weak
[02:40.385] Away from people so long she forgot how to speak
[02:42.912] She discovered freedom is a unspoken sound
[02:45.531] And a wall is a wall and can be broken down
[02:48.287] Found peace in the Panthers she went on trial with
[02:51.006] One of the brothers she had a child with
[02:53.643] The foulness they would feed her, hoping she's lose her seed
[02:56.282] Held tight, knowing the fight would live through this seed
[02:59.010] In need of a doctor, from her stomach she'd bleed
[03:01.588] Out of this situation a girl was conceived
[03:04.407] Separated from her, left to mother the Revolution
[03:07.500] And lactated to attack hate
[03:09.601] Cause federal and state was built for a Black fate
[03:12.286] Her emptiness was filled with beatings and court dates
[03:14.966] They fabricated cases, hoping one would stick
[03:17.560] And said she robbed places that didn't exist
[03:20.117] In the midst of threats on her life and being caged with Aryan whites
[03:22.969] Through dark halls of hate she carried the light
[03:25.605] I wonder what would happen if that would've been me
[03:28.169] All of this just so we could be free
[03:30.341] Yeah, I often wonder what would happen if that would've been me
[03:33.382] All of this just so we could be free
[03:35.276] So dig it, people
[03:36.009] I'm thinking of Assata, yes
[03:41.590] Listen to my love, Assata, yes
[03:46.644] Your power and pride is beautiful
[03:52.345] May God bless your soul
[04:17.786] Yo, from North Carolina her grandmother would bring
[04:21.593] News that she had had a dream
[04:23.762] Her dreams always meant what they needed them to mean
[04:26.368] What made them real was the action in between
[04:28.927] She dreamt that Assata was free in their old house in Queens
[04:32.378] The fact that they always came true was the thing
[04:34.871] Assata had been convicted of a murder she couldn't of done
[04:37.651] Medical evidence shown she couldn't have shot the gun
[04:40.368] It's time for her to see the sun from the other side
[04:43.016] Time for her daughter to be by her mother's side
[04:45.584] Time for this beautiful woman to become soft again
[04:48.205] Time for her to breathe, and not be told how or when
[04:51.009] She untangled the chains and escaped the pain
[04:53.496] How she broke out of prison I could never explain
[04:56.100] And even to this day they try to get to her
[04:58.789] But she's free with political asylum in Cuba
[05:01.648] I’m thinking of Assata, yeah
[05:06.772] Listen to my love, Assata, yeah
[05:12.187] We’re molded from the same mud, Assata
[05:17.375] We share the same blood, Assata, yeah
[05:22.722] Your power and pride, so beautiful
[05:28.022] May God bless your soul
[05:33.358] Your power and pride, so beautiful
[05:38.623] May God bless your soul
[05:57.575] Freedom? You're asking me about freedom? You're asking me about freedom?
[06:07.131] I'll be honest with you.
[06:09.912] I know a whole more about what freedom isn't than about what it is,
[06:18.012] because I've never been free.
[06:20.521] I can only share my vision with you of the future, about what freedom is
[06:29.666] The way I see it, freedom is-- is the right to grow, is the right to
[06:36.327] Blossom. Freedom is-- is the right to be yourself, to be who you are,
[06:43.633] to be who you wanna be, to do what you wanna do--