Talib Kweli - She's My Hero lyrics

We do it for the babies
They say falling in love the
Definition of going crazy
The knowledge that makes us just
Cherish innocence makes it impossible
He heading for the graves
Drivin' right past the hospital

There be glass in the hallway
Bloodstained floors
(yeah) Woo! Move, motherfucker
I like that one (go in) c'mon

They say karma is a bitch and
When you take a life, you pay the price
But, if your way of life ain't been
Threatened and you safe at night
How you out here judgin' thinkin'
You givin' people great advice
When those who should protect you disrespect
You? You can't take it light


Bresha Meadows, resemble my baby girl
14 years old taking a place
In this crazy world
Her and her brothers lived in
Fear of their father's rage
He beat their mother so often
She prayed for the day she could be far away
Father's Day
An awkward occasion would daddy
Fall from grace
Embrace the alcohol, call mommy a whore
Put her back in her place
With black eyes, broken ribs
Slashin' her weight
No speculation, just the facts of the case
Stated, allegedly wavin' a gun in her face
After all that he came back
And was great, right, right?
Tired of hearin' mommy scream
"Put the gun away"
She knew that when she got the
Courage she would run away
But what about her brothers? She
Couldn't leave her mother
They told the cops but all that did
Was make him treat them rougher
So what was she to do? She did
What she was told to do
Exposure to violence increased the amount of
Violence that you open to
Why bother when the system
Support her father?
Gradually her thoughts got darker
Do you kill yourself or kill the
Monster that's making you suicidal?
Decision's too heavy for the mind of a child

There'll be glass in the hallway
Bloodstained floors
(yeah) Woo! Move, motherfucker
Yeah, I like that one (go in) let's go

They say karma is a bitch and
When you take a life, you pay the price
We shootin' in these moments to confuse your
Violence with a way of life
The funnel us from schools to the prisons
It's like they made a pipe
The conclusion that we reach is that the
Solution is that we take the fight
To you, Bresha Meadows
Took matters in her own hands
14 years old with more courage
Than a grown man
Grabbed the gun that he threatened to whip
Crept in the bedroom
Put the bullet in his brain while he slept
It left his daughter with
Post traumatic stress disorder
She the phoenix out the flames
It's metamorphosis
Survivin' in the Meadows house was
Kinda like a war
He threatened to kill her mother and
Her brothers many times before
The justice system is profit
They shuffle us to prison
But shit is just as toxic for women
To get a judge to listen
At first the family freaked out but
Deep down they felt relief
"Wipe the tears from your cheek, mama
You free now"
Family wearin' purple in the court room
Prosecution lookin' at the feds
Like make your move
Chance of beatin' this murder feel like zero
Her mama doin' interviews like
"She's my hero"
She shed no tears for her husband
Years of succumbin' to her fears
Have made her numb
From video games to war as we
Solve our problems with violence
It's how we speak
They either want your death or your silence