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