Brother Ali, Amir Sulaiman - Gather Round lyrics

Ain’t no stopping the calling
I’m a warrior scholar
With the pad and the pen or
With the sword and the chopper
Look at how far I got if
You lost I could guide you
In between two extremes like Safa and Marwa

In the desert like Bedouins
In search of water
Except we’re thirsting for power up
In the urban drama
Every day our sons and daughters
Are led to the slaughter
Indoctrinated by a complacent social order
Decapitated they’re trying to cut
Our jugular vain
That’s the sacred lifeline from the
Heart to the brain
Make us blind to mankind’s suffering pain
Ugliness worldwide that’s done in our name

So the only thing we’re seeing
Is what we can gain
Precious blood shed in vain
And nothing is changed
Drugged up in the daze in a comfortable maze
Upscale slaves in luxury cages

But the weak keep crying
And the innocent dying
And these are the times when the
Real freedom fighters gather ‘round

I said the cities catch fire
And the flames grow higher
And the poor and the pious get
Inspired and decide to gather ‘round

When the times get dire and
The mighty are liars
And the righteous fighting for their
Life get organized and gather ‘round

When the prophets are silenced and
The tyrants are giants
And David sets his sights on
Goliath and we finally gather ‘round

Hostile environment locked in a conflict
Wandering lost in an impossible climate
Boxed in confinement democracy hostage
Bound for the towers monsters in the cockpit

Following blind unconscious accomplice
Judged by time indicted for our silence
Couple years ago I made a statement
Can’t figure a single Goddamn
Way to change it

As of late I made adjustments to my language
Numbers are the only thing the
People gain strength in
If we’re going to change we got
To step up our relations
Got to see our own selves
In each other’s faces

Share each other’s spaces give
Each other room
And hear each other’s pain bare
Witness to the truth
And the ground gets holy when
The ground is stood
And the goods may odd but the odds are good

"That is why I challenge you now to
Stand together because together we’ve got
Power and we can make decisions"


Justice
Is somewhere in between reading sad poems
And 40 ounces of gasoline crashing
Through windows

Justice… is between plans and action
Between writing letters to congressmen
And clapping a captain
Between raising legal defense funds
And putting a
Gun on the bailiff and taking the
Judge captive
It is between prayer and fasting
Between burning and blasting

Freedom… is between the mind and the soul

It is between the lock and the load
Between the zeal of the young and
The patience of the old freedom
Is between the finger and the trigger
It is between the page and the pen
Between the grenade and the pin
Between righteous anger and keeping
One in the chamber

So I say down with Goliath
I say down with Goliath

But we must learn, know, write, read
We must kick, bite, yell, scream
We must pray, fast, live, dream, fight
Kill and die free