Yasiin Bey - An Open Letter From Mos Def lyrics

An Open Letter From Mos Def by Mos Def
February 1999

An Open letter From Mos Def
Diallo was a West African
Immigrant with no prior
Criminal record who was shot and killed by
Police in the dark of night for simply being
Black he was unarmed and shot at
41 times! No unarmed man should be shot at
Even once! One of the police officers
Involved in the Diallo shooting
Was involved in
The killing of Patrick Bailey no more
Than a year and a half ago! Tyesha Miller
Was shot in her car in Los Angeles
While she had a seizure! I could go
On and on with the names of
Black people who have been
Killed at the hands
Of police just this year but the


List is so long that it would turn
This letter into a statistic sheet

Most of the people that got killed
By police this year and
In the past have probably been
Some of your fans
Fans of some of your favorite
Artists they are black people
Who love us, who defend us, who protect us
Who put us in our comfortable
Homes an dour luxury sports utility vehicles
And our well kept hotels suites
And our oversized tour buses they're
The people that buy our
Records, our t-shirts, our concert
Tickets, and so on, and so forth
They're the same people that are
Getting murdered, harassed, maimed
And beaten in streets all
Over the world everyday!

The only people in our community who
Have not responded to this
Incident are us hip-Hop made one
Hundred billion dollars last
Year! a lot of those dollars
Came from the 'Comptoms', the
'Brooklyns', the 'Crown Heights', the
'Chicagos', the Detroit ghettos
The St louis ghettos the same ghettos where
Police run around literally hunting black
Folks to murder then cruise the streets
Shortly thereafter with impunity
And arrogance we are the Senators and the
Congressmen of our communities
We come from communities that
Don't have nobody to
Speak for them that's why they
Love us because we
Talk about what nobody else will talk about
We represent them and they need
To know that we
Really represent them not when it's just a
Romantic notion or a paycheck
Attached to it when
Something happens to them it matters to us
Because when something happens to
Them it's happening to
Us because Amadou Diallo is your brother
Your cousin, your man tyesha Miller is your
Sister, your aunt, your girl, your wife
Your daughter all of these
People are you! You are no
Different! And just because
We're at the top of the Billboard charts
Seen on MTV daily
Livin' comfortably doesn't mean that
We can't get shot, we can't be harassed
We can't be maimed and mistreated

I hope this is as important to you as
It is to me cause when I
Pass by the projects and when I pass
By the hood I don't see nobody
But me i see everybody who looks like
Me i see me many years ago
As I'm sure many of you do so
It's time for us to come
Together from the 'jiggy' to
The 'hardcore' from the
'backpacker' to the man with the Lexus
And really unite and show the world that
We got strength show the world
Who we are represent who we are who
We really are and where we really
Come from let's show people where our
Heart is that we haven't forgotten

Now I'm askin' you and anybody who
Looks on this letter to
Come forward and show your heart
To show your love
To love the people who love
You back by speaking out
Against the injustices that they
Suffer because believe me
If the clock was turned backwards
We'd be those same people

Please stay mindful of this please
Be considerate of this
Letter pass it around! Talk
About this! Think about
It! Keep it on your mind because if you don't
It's going to keep it's mind on you

I wanna thank everybody for taking
Time out to read
This letter i hope I didn't take up too
Much of your time all of
The contact information and
Other information you need to
Know is enclosed

I want to wish everybody, each
And everyone of ya'll peace
Prosperity and love

Peace, mos Def