MY STRENGTH MY SONG
A Christ Centered Ministry of Faith and Hope
Phóné
You have the right to remain silent



Fly Brother fly
A Poem, Written and Narrated by: Ryan Williams French
Press "Play" to listen to the narration while reading
Speak son speak
fly brother fly
And don’t you dare come back home
until you are done singing your song
father knows
he knows
he knows that It doesn’t feel good.
It doesn’t feel good to know
that they laughed, they celebrated
when they thought you were dead
Father knows
He knows how incredibly and unimaginably sad
your situation is
To know that even after all of that
All of that love
She still wanted to kill you
Lift your head up
Be a man
And Speak
Speak boy speak, fly brother fly
And don’t you dare come back home until you are done singing your song
You have the right to speak.
You have the right to be misunderstood.
You have the right to be late, well, sometimes
You have the right to tell jokes that nobody else understands
You have the right to laugh at inappropriate comments
You have the right to apologize only once without feeling guilty
You have the right to voice your opinion without feeling obligated to explain yourself
You have the right to sing loudly sing sing sing sing sing early in the morning
even if no one is listening
You have the right to take up space in a room with your body and your voice
Yes your voice
every man has a body,
anybody can show their body
deep down inside most people desire to be somebody
But surprise us
thrill us
shock us
give them something to talk about
let this world know about your thoughts
your ideas
your fears
your goals
your dreams
and your visions
speak son speak
fly brother fly
and don’t you dare come back home until you are done singing your song
You have the right write to a word incorrectly
You have the right to use italics as much as you want even if it is not grammatically correct. Because it looks nice on paper.
You have the right to over articulate and overenunciate each and every word that comes out of your mouth
You have the right to recite poems from poets with really odd names, from obscure European towns,
who died a really really long time ago.
You have the right to say no.
You have the right to say yes.
You have the right to give yourself as many titles as you’d like.
You’re not a slave
You have the right to say something when you observe that someone else is suffering because you are human. It’s only human to speak for those whose pain you can understand. It’s only human to have a heart and use your voice in the face of cowardly silence
You have the right to disagree with popular opinion
You have the right to remain silent
Silent for nine and a half minutes
with a knee pressed upon your neck
Yelping, gasping, gurgling, choking struggling
calling out for mama
mama mama mama mama mama
His eyes are red, but his dreams are now dead
mama mama mama mama mama
Father knows
He knows how incredibly and unimaginably painful
your situation is
To know that even after all of that
all of the patience
all of the time
all of the loyalty
all of the love
they still wanted to kill you.
You have the right to live
You have the right to speak
You have the right to support yourself
You have the right to take care of your peace
Speak son speak
Fly brother fly
Your voice is a balm
and an oh so calming elixir quenching the thirst of
many ravaged desperate famished souls.
You have the right to possess the land with your body and your voice
Yes your voice
every man has a body,
anybody can sell their body
deep down inside most people really want to be somebody
but what about sharing your thoughts
your ideas, your dreams
your fears....
You have the right to remain silent
Silent for two hours in the midst of flames and smoke
clapping, cheering, pleading, clawing,
look at that beautiful black boy burning
burnin burnin burnin burnin burnin
His eyes are red, but his dreams are now dead
burnin burnim burnim burn him
Brother knows
Oh yes brother knows
he knows that by the time they were finished
burning that beautiful black baby
There were no eyes
there were no teeth
no legs
no arms no
body
nobody
You have the right
to speak
You have the right to take up space in a room
with your body and your voice
Yes your voice
every man has a body
anybody can show their body
and most people claim they wanna be somebody
But surprise us, shock us, thrill us, appall us
tell us about your thoughts, your ideas, your fears, and your dreams
use your voice!
For greater is the God who is in you than
the enemy who is working against you.
For greater is the God in you that the mocker, the scoffer, the police officer, the doubter, the critic, rapist, the liar, and the false testifier
Greater is the light from within than the darkness from without
Your voice is the gift that God has given you to let the world know that you are here.
Your song is the gift that God has given you to let the world know that we are here.
Your poem is the gift that God has revealed to you to let the world know that you are his.
Yes you are his and can't nobody do nothing about it.
Speak boy speak
Fly brother fly
And don’t you dare come back home
until you are done singing your song