J. Period, Joss Stone, Pharoahe Monch, Posdnuos, Black Thought - RISE UP! ( RISE UP: Music Inspired by America Divided) lyrics

Only a few generations have been granted the
Role of defending freedom in it's hour
Of maximum danger i do not shrink from
This responsibility - I welcome it

Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix

The bane of my own existence, strange
Our defeat is deranged
Add that, multiplied by my feelings
The pain still egregious, but strategic
I came to rise up out of
The flames like a phoenix
My words'll reach a million or
More when I tweet it
That's as many people as MLK and Jesus
In half the time, peep the rhymes of a genius
Who refuses to align with the elitist


Seeing Dr King's dreams were
Not for the squeamish
Children of a lesser god
Oppression gets repeated unless
We slide up out of the chains and delete it
America's like black and white dice tumbling
Any day you could bite the dust, another one
So while our culture is crumbling
I will enunciate every line
Clearly so you can hear what
The fuck I'm saying, no mumbling

Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix

The irony of a nation claiming
To be the United States
Yet never in a state of unification
Egos and ignorance creates incisions
Comforted ones believe these divisions
And we rep the rhythm with
A little bit of scepticism
Leaving us jaded and traded
In compassion for compression
Ready to squeeze the life out of
Anyone who steps to us with aggression
The media runs with it, calling us aggressive
When it's just reaction to
A system that's oppressive
Raised fists are claimed offensive
But when both arms and open palms are up
Police it's the mood and the outcome
Of this selection is stewed
In a mellow no longer good for blending
And yet it's never too late for the cleansing
If we want to rise up, then put the lies up
Know the truth, make sure you need to size
Up before you judge
In order to unify someone's got to budge
And to the choir don't preach
And discard the beat
So instead those trapped in
Ignorance can be reached
The outcome from this is a high
Consciousness instead of a fist
Push to the sky

Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix

Rise to power then fall from grace
Though often cases our heads are
Lost in the clouds or we're lost in space
Citizens of the divided states
Identify with hatred
For our demise, they watch and wait
Look at the downward spiral, it's goin' viral
Nobody's ever accountable, who's held liable?
If anyone could court respond
If they so inclined to
It's sad, they want a borderline
Redefine you
As a people we can rise like the tides
Due to tower over evil as a nation under God
Indivisible the weight of all our odds
But together we'll survive
Just never sever ties
We could rise to a brilliance
Rise to a balance
Rise to a way to coexist in nonviolence
Rise to a volume that's impossible to silence
In the morning when I rise
I'll rise to the challenge

Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix

Never in the history of this nation
Have so many people been
For the cause of freedom and
Human dignity now let
Me say this, keep this movement going
Keep this movement rolling
Long as we keep moving like we are moving
The power structures will have to give in
In spite of the
Difficulties and we're gonna have
A few more difficulties, keep trying keep
Moving, if you can't fly, run
If you can't run, walk
If you can't walk, crawl but by all means
Keep moving