I’m a folk singer, songwriter, painter & friend a poet, a brother, I draw with a pen all sorts of fantastic creations & plots, a book or a guitar I always have got. come sit down beside me, i’ll sing you a song about a funny old world that’s a coming along. I’ll paint you a picture of where I have been or something I’ve seen way down in New Orleans. There’s lots of folks talking of lots going on, I take them and twist them up into a song. there’s plenty to do if you just look around to keep your mind sharp & your boots on the ground. there’s lots of good people doing lots of good things, if you’re feeling stuck, just give them a ring. i’m dreaming & scheming & learning new songs & asking what you want when that better world comes along. once there’s enough freedom around for us all to plant a good tree & eat the fruit when it falls.

I’m The Dawn Like a pawn of tomorrow Like a gold-dusted frown In the sights of a rifle That will never make a sound I have come close to heaven— Every wild escapade— In between the mouths of lions Have I learned to be brave. Someone asked me if I had seen her Had I ever known Snow White? All the sweethearts went to dinner They all disappeared last night At a hero’s remembrance In a hall cold as steel I have learned that a heartache Takes a lifetime to heal It is one, then the other I have always known the Truth But the feathers and the tar balls Keep on falling from the roof It’s the Shine that I’m after Like a lightning bolting rod I am stronger in the shadows I and I-who-am-God Crooked captains on the river Hiding out after the war Smuggling salt and sugar Whiskey underneath the floor Shotgun house dripping water Try not to renew the lease Caught a mouse in a bottle Sold him for a quarter piece. Frozen footsteps I have witnessed Though it’s been a while since I have crossed the Lake of Fire In the presence of the Prince I’m not phased when the lights fade If the Shine finally fails It’s the Question I am after Why I ride along the rails All this time, they’ve been looking Never realized I was gone I’m not there or in Brooklyn After all, I’m the Dawn It’s the Chaos that they’re after Once it’s all said and done I’m the one who brought the laughter I’m the one, I’m the One I’m the frightened deer in headlights I’m the shivering autumn leaves I’m the Watchman standing upright I’m those aces up your sleeve I just called to say Nothing I’ve lost my sight again I won’t call back in the morning I’ll have packed the van by then It’s a cold and lonely winter I’ve been struggling to say: Goodbye to you, my Sister It has always been this way.

Mayday I was born with a broken heart & I felt lost from the very start I grew up mean, but I grew up smart First I rambled near, then I rambled far I caught a train down to New Orleans To drive a spike into Jim Crow’s machine ‘cause of all the sights I’d ever seen nothing was quite like that New Orleans So many men sitting on their stoops There’s lots of work, but none to do Tell me what’s a strong man to do When his chances feel worse than the blues Now they say the river might finally rise & when it does, so will the guys ‘cause you hear their thoughts louder than their cries & you know they’re thinking keep your eyes on the prize Now I live down in New Orleans I still feel lost & I still feel mean But I share a vision realer than a dream That together we can take down the oil-slickened dark money-driven Jim Crow-addicted prison industrially complicated trying to keep us under-educated in the name of the filthy, dirty, rotten, rusted system called the capitalist machine Yeah, together we can take back New Orleans Together we can take back New Orleans

A Hymn For Alton Sterling I have been up to St Louis I have been to Michigan I have called out from the forest & I have called you in as friends I am here with you in the nighttime I am here with you til the end It is me that they are after It is me who calls you friend I have been to Baton Rouge I have been up to St Paul I have seen all the Broken I’ve been thrown up against the wall How much longer can this happen? I’ve been asking all my life I have seen too much hatred Only love can set us right

When I said, We are imprisoned… When I said, We are imprisoned by a lack of imagination, I meant we have a hard time dreaming. We drink too much poison because we don’t know where to find water Holy water Cleansing water Water that will cure our thirst for Life. When I said, We are imprisoned by a lack of imagination, I was talking about the way we see justice as one of two things: being locked in a box of shame or executed by a system that set us up to fail. When I said, We are imprisoned by a lack of imagination, I meant we can’t move that we are binded by binaries of gender & race & political parties that we are taught to take what is as all that can be. See, they want us to believe we’ve lost our vision. They want us to feel blind. They don’t understand that the Wonder of Stevie is how the light shines from his mind that a genius is only a human who recognizes his gift & then puts in the work to lift up himself so he can shine light on his brothers so they can mine their own wealth so they can unshackle confusion & start improving their health. Because the poison we’ve taken is designed to destroy. First a thousand small knife wounds from our feet to our neck, then we’re covered with hatred that is meant to infect. But we don’t have to believe we’re out here all alone. We’ve got healers among us. They can knit broken bones. They put us back together. They’ve got balm for our wounds. If you let them, they’ll teach you how thorns are removed. If you let them, they’ll teach you to open your eyes. If you let them, they’ll teach you it’s all right when you cry that’s how the toxins leave you, it helps to clean out your mind. When I said, We are imprisoned by a lack of imagination, I was talking about the exhaustion that makes your bones hurt. That exhaustion that makes you believe that you are weak, that you need to sleep & when you do fall to sleep, you don’t even dream & if you do, it’s a nightmare mixed with reality. I know that you’re tired, but the cure isn’t sleep. In fact, sleep is the poison that is keeping you weak. Sleep is the poison that is keeping you weak. Sleep isn’t dreaming. Sleep is just sleep. You see, When I said, We are imprisoned by a lack of imagination, I was implying we need to get up out of prison. But first, we need to understand What this prison really is, How this prison was built & more importantly why this prison was built. This prison isn’t any ordinary prison. This prison does not discriminate for any reason. It does not matter what color your skin is or with what gender you identify. This prison just added bars to the Tower of Babel. This is a very diverse prison. So, imagine. Imagine what it would be like for The community that is chained up inside To co-exist lovingly outside this prison. You see, when we say, “We have a duty to fight for our freedom,” This is what we are talking about. When we say, “We have a duty to win,” This is what we are talking about. When we say, “We must love each other & support each other,” This is what we are talking about. When we say, “We have nothing to lose, but our chains.” When we say, “We have nothing to lose, but our chains!” This is exactly what we are talking about. When I said, We are imprisoned by a lack of imagination, I was talking about that Voice that tells you, No. That Voice saying, Don’t say that, They don’t want to hear your idea. That Voice saying you don’t belong there. You don’t belong out there. You don’t belong with them You don’t have the right color skin. That’s the Voice keeping you In. The Voice doesn’t want you Out. The Voice wants you. The Voice wants you to doubt that you deserve freedom, that you deserve to feel loved, that you deserve to experience the Wonder that these sisters & brothers have to offer, that you can support them *without stealing from them You see, if you do this You will gain life You will gain their support You will start to feel free. When I said, We are imprisoned by a lack of imagination, I did not mean that’s the way it has to be, but we have to wake up enough to want to be free. We have to wake up enough to want to be free. We must listen & learn & act like we’re free. Tonight, I’ve been thinking what it means to believe that the first shall be last & the last ones shall lead. We are all in this struggle & we all need to be heard, but will you learn to be humble— & give up the last word? Take a minute & step back Take a minute & Breathe. Be quick to listen, Slow to anger, Slow to speak. Together, we’re stronger when we open our eyes & we learn to go farther when we organize. when we let go of our doubt & we let go of our fear & we start falling in love with the freedom right here.